Awesome Hands – part 119

“Bearing His reproach”

August 18, 2017

Oftentimes I find myself sitting quietly or driving to work and pondering just what the heck my purpose is for the Lord at any given time. What I almost always conclude is that the Lord will reveals this to me within the context of the day to day living that I find myself in.

When we look at various stories found throughout scripture, we see that most are normal everyday situations which have been caused for the Lord to present Himself in.

In other words, there is nothing for us to do but wait on the Lord to present an opportunity to manifest Himself, from within us, to the “outside” world we live in.

Our study today finds us in the “outside” world, but spiritually this is also a location know as being “without the camp” or “into the wilderness”.

Where does the Lord place our hands?

The verse for our consideration today is Leviticus 16:21, but we will cover several other verses to give us some context on this verse.

Leviticus 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness

For the most part, this verse explains itself, but we must first read what precedes it in order to know why we find Aaron about to send away a goat into the wilderness and why he “confesses iniquities of the children of Israel” over said goat.

Leviticus 16:20  And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
Leviticus 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
Leviticus 16:22  And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

The goal of this study is to help us bring into focus how the Lord works His hands into our lives, and who the “our” or “us” is that I refer to.

Indeed, if we do not recognize who the “they” and “us” are, then we cannot possibly know who the “us” are that need to go outside the camp with Jesus Christ.

So, let’s identify this “goat” in our verse for today.

Leviticus 16:5  And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
Leviticus 16:6  And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
Leviticus 16:7  And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Leviticus 16:8  And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Leviticus 16:9  And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
Leviticus 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

While this all can seem like a lot of information, the Lord has sent me to break it down to help us all understand a little better who we are in the Lord.

I know these goats are probably familiar to a lot of us, but review is never a bad thing. For those who this may be new to, welcome to the wilderness!

It may seem counter intuitive to think that we are the scapegoat, but we indeed are the scapegoat with Christ. After all, we want to be that goat that is the Lord’s, correct? However, that goat is presented before the Lord DEAD and the scapegoat is presented alive. Interesting indeed.

So, why do I claim we are the scapegoat with Jesus Christ?

Hebrews 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Hebrews 13:11  For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Hebrews 13:12  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Hebrews 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

It appears there is an “us” and “them”.

Romans 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
2 Corinthians 2:17  For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
1 John 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 4:6  We are OF GOD: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

How then do we compare to the scapegoat and the sacrificed goat?

The old man in us is the goat that is presented dead to the Lord. This is the goat which must be killed in order for the scapegoat to go free.

The scapegoat is presented to the Lord alive, but only because “the hand of a fit man” sends that goat into the wilderness.

“Let us go to him without the camp, bearing His reproach” is telling us that we are taking on His shame and disgrace in order to be with Him.

(CEV)  That’s why we should go outside the camp to Jesus and share in his disgrace.
(GNB)  Let us, then, go to him outside the camp and share his shame
(ISV)  Therefore go to him outside the camp and endure the insults he endured.

I am not sure about you all, but I certainly feel His shame and disgrace and share in the insults He endured when I dare to keep His commandments and do what He commands me to do.

In fact, my son has a birthday party right now where most people despise me, and worse, because I will not celebrate this with them. However, because I witness to the Truth, my daughter doesn’t celebrate her birthday any longer. She does get immense pressure for this because most don’t consider her “old enough” to make such a decision. So, it is chalked up to me brainwashing her.

It’s none-sense of course (brainwashing), but people must rationalize their lack of obedience for what God says to do versus what He causes to happen when these things occur.

The Son is darkened

It’s interesting to note what is happening in the US currently. There is a solar eclipse coming up and it is all the rage now. There is practically nowhere which has solar glasses left to sell to view the eclipse. I work for an eye glass company and we steadily get calls asking if we sale them.

For the most part, there is nothing inherently wrong with viewing the eclipse. In fact, it is a neat physical event that reflects a spiritual Truth that happens day in and day out of our human lives, but the physical viewing of this eclipse has nothing particularly wrong with it. Here is the spiritual type and shadow of the sun being darkened. After all, we know who the Sun of Righteousness is.

Romans 11:10  Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

Ephesians 4:17  This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Ephesians 4:18  Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Ephesians 4:19  Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Ephesians 4:20  But ye have not so learned Christ;

Revelation 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

Luke 23:44  And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
Luke 23:45  And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
Luke 23:46  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Matthew 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Matthew 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Joel 3:15  The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

All of these verses examples should give us pause to think about the spiritual type and shadow of what happens to those that “see” and those that have their hearts and minds blinded.

Again, this is most definitely an “us” and “them” situation as it pertains to being children of God.

Look at what Joseph was told about his own family!

Genesis 37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Genesis 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Genesis 37:5  And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Genesis 37:6  And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Genesis 37:7  For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
Genesis 37:8  And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
Genesis 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Genesis 37:10  And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
Genesis 37:11  And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

Israel observed the saying his son Joseph spoke to them all. There is a witness being told in this story and it is two-part. The first dream has sheaves, which are OF THE EARTH, giving obeisance to Joseph. The second dream has the “sun, moon and stars” giving obeisance to Joseph of which things are “in the heavens”.

In other words, the dream the Lord gave to Joseph tells us that both the old man and new man are completely caused to do what they do and controlled by the Lord.

Connecting this story to the goats in Leviticus 16, it is the goat that is sent “in the wilderness” or “outside the camp” which is LIVING. This is the “us” goat.

Why is this the “us” goat? This is the goat which is separated, by the will of God the Father, to go out from the camp of Israel, in order to be with Jesus Christ.

For most of the time, being sent outside the camp has a negative connotation.

Exodus 29:14  But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.

Leviticus 24:14  Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

Numbers 5:2  Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
Numbers 5:3  Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
Numbers 5:4  And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

Numbers 31:19  And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.

Ahh, there is our “end-game”. Purification happens “without” the camp.

Hebrews 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
Hebrews 13:14  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Hebrews 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Hebrews 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

God is well pleased with the sacrifice that LIVES, yet doesn’t. We should continuously be giving God the praises and thanks of our lips for being caused to go out FROM THOSE WHO CLAIM TO BE ISRAEL.

Yes, indeed I use to be apart of this same group, but praise be to God that I no longer am!

Galatians 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Galatians 5:24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Galatians 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Romans 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Romans 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Before I am accused of doing this miraculous work myself or taking credit for any part of it, let me emphatically state:

John 6:43  Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
John 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

What then does all of this mean for the “us” who are apart of the “us” group and also for the “them” group.

The first thing is to be thankful and praise the Lord for being caused to be in a life that the Lord can now use as a life and vessel of honor.

Romans 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Romans 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

1 Thessalonians 4:4  That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

1 Peter 3:4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
1 Peter 3:5  For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:
1 Peter 3:6  Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
1 Peter 3:7  Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Secondly, we must not be found guilty of BLMAING others for being “he is not a Jew….” when it comes to being a child of God or not.

Who is the camp of Israel as it pertains to this type and shadow? Also, who is sent out from this camp?

The camp are those that call the Lord, Lord but do not do the things He tells them to do.

Luke 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luke 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

Those which are called to go without the camp are those who are to join Jesus Christ by “bearing his reproach”, bearing His shame, and enduring the very hard trials that come to those who are looked down on for being “not a part of the group”.

1 Peter 4:3  For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
1 Peter 4:4  Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
1 Peter 4:5  Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
1 Peter 4:6  For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

See the “dead in the flesh” are those DEAD and SACRIFICED GOATS who are slain so that we can be shown mercy. However, that does NOT mean we do not need to continue to PREACH the GOSPEL to them.

Preaching the gospel to these dead folks is what will bring LIFE to them LATER! AMEN!

Romans 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Romans 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Romans 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

That is what our walk and lives are all about in one way or another. We are here now to show to the “outside world” the hope, life, love and LIGHT that is on our inside.

How we interact AND REACT to what the Lord causes in our lives is the reflection of if we are doers of the word or ONLY HEARERS.

As a result, I leave you all with one more arrow to put in your quiver in how we are to LIVE day by day by dying daily.

1 Peter 4:6  For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
1 Peter 4:7  But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
1 Peter 4:8  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:9  Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
1 Peter 4:10  As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 Peter 4:11  If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.