Realizing the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God.
Realizing the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God.
COLUMNS

Judgment

Mike Slay

Transcending rules.

Exodus 30:34–38 (ESV)

The LORD said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you. And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the LORD. Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.”

Just as we saw with the anointing oil, anyone who uses this incense recipe for a common purpose shall be cut off from his people. Intriguingly, these passages don’t say who will do the cutting off. Are the Israelites instructed to cut someone off if they catch them doing this, or is this saying that God will cut them off?

It’s God. There are many prohibitions where the offender is cut off from his people (Israel). In some cases, the LORD specifically says that He’ll be the one doing it.

“I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.

If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.” — Leviticus 20:3–6 (ESV)

In many of these other cases, it would be difficult to prove that someone committed a violation. In this passage, no rules for judging these cases are given. It appears that getting cut off is a judgment of God.

That’s worse. It means expulsion from the covenant and from His blessing.


Praise God that He transcends rules like these through grace. One of the prime ways the modern church models this is through prison ministry. Always pray for those ministries. They need them more than most.

And don’t forget to pray for the prisoners too. Some are very serious believers. Others are very serious unbelievers. They range from the most encouraging to the least.

But if God can turn Saul into Paul, salvation has no limits. Ask the LORD to work in their hearts. Ask God to help us minister to them effectively, and, most importantly, to minister in a way that glorifies Him.

That’s just a start. Consider getting educated about prison ministries in your area—educated enough that you give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to call you in this direction.

That call doesn’t have to happen—it didn’t with me—but you’ll know enough to pray detailed prayers.


To forward this devotional, see the link in green below.

These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. Saturdays’ by Matt Richardson. Subscribe here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, are here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NASB stands for the New American Standard Bible. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.

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