The Encourager
Atonement
Sunday, March 08, 2020ATONEMENT
by Steve Peeler
There are many words which describe our salvation. Each one emphasizes a particular aspect of that salvation. We talk about forgiveness, reconciliation, justification, redemption, and sanctification. The word that perhaps we least understand is the word atonement. We know about the Day of Atonement for the Israelites and believe in our atonement, but do we have an understanding of the meaning of this word? To help us have a better appreciation for our salvation, consider the meaning of atonement.
Numbers 16 tells of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. This resulted in the death of these men and about 250 others who followed them. The next day, the Jews slandered Moses and accused him of killing the people of God. God was so angry. His wrath was manifested in a plague which killed about 15,000 Jews. What stopped the plague? What was it that appeased His wrath? Aaron took a censer and stood between the Jews and the advancing plague. This action is described as making atonement for the nation (Num. 16:46-47). Wrath was appeased, and this is described as atonement.
In Numbers 25, the Jews were committing the sin of fornication with the Midianite women. God’s anger again sent a plague and killed 24,000 Jews. What stopped the plague? Phinehas took a javelin and thrust it through the bodies of a Jewish man and a Midianite woman who were committing fornication. God said, “Phinehas...has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel because he was zealous with My zeal among them...because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel” (Num. 25:11-13).
Atonement always involves sin which results in God’s wrath against sin, and actions being done to appease His wrath. If there is no atonement, His wrath will surely come. The concept that sins were “rolled forward” on the Day of Atonement does not portray what actually happened. Every year on that day, God remembered the sins of Israel, and if atonement was not made, His wrath was sent. Nations came against Israel when atonement was not made. When it was made, His anger was appeased and God blessed that nation. God remembered their sins every year. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we have atonement! God does not remember our sins (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 10:17). Thank God for our atonement!
There is Nothing New Under the Sun
Sunday, March 08, 2020“There is Nothing New Under the Sun”
by Joe R. Price
“That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘See, this is new’? It has already been in ancient times before us” (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10).
Solomon wants us to view life on earth from an eternal vantage point. There is nothing new under the sun. What will be has already happened somewhere to someone. Sure, technologies advance, discoveries are made. But, the essence of life itself, its course, its parameters, its purposes – these have remained constant since the beginning of the creation (to coin a phrase from Jesus, Mark 10:6). Solomon saw the never-ending cycles of life in the circuit of the sun, the courses of the wind, and the evaporative equilibrium of the rivers and seas (Eccl. 1:3-7). Even our endless desires testify to the ultimate futility of life under the sun, since “the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing” (Eccl. 1:8). Ultimately, a life lived without fearing God and obeying His commandments fails to fulfill its fundamental purpose (Eccl. 12:13). The cycles of the earth and of life on this planet will continue for us until death comes (Eccl. 12:1-8). After that comes judgment and eternity (Heb. 9:27). “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12:14). Are you ready?