DAY 38

PERSPECTIVE

Leviticus 1, 2 & 3 and Matthew 24:1 - 28

Here we are – about to “wade into” Leviticus! Some people may be groaning because they know what is coming – the Law.

I have titled today “Perspective” because the approach you read and study Leviticus, in fact all of the Old Testament with, will dramatically determine how you receive (or reject) all that we are about to read.

My perspective starts with Jesus. You might think that I am jumping to the New Testament. Jesus has “come to fulfill the Law” we read in Matthew 5:17. Therefore when Jesus goes to the Cross, that act is not some arbitrary event, rather it is rooted in the Law. Why do I make this assertion? Quite simply Jesus was Jewish! I know that is not a great revelation, but what we have read (Genesis & Exodus) and what we are about to read (Leviticus) was (and is) His Book. As a Jew, as a Rabbi, (as its Author) He knew it inside and out, and His actions flowed from it.

I will try therefore to not get too bogged down in details, but rather try and highlight the point of various sacrifices and rules as I understand them. My remarks are highly influenced by several theologians: NT Wright and Allen Ross. It is from Allen Ross that I directly quote below.

“The law of Moses was given to a redeemed people (for the most part), to the community of faithful people who assembled to worship at Mount Sinai. They had cried out to the Lord for help in their bondage, and when they responded with faith to the word of the Lord and put blood on the doorposts of their homes in Egypt, the Lord delivered them from bondage. They were already the people of God when they came to Sinai; but at Sinai they cut the covenant and entered a formal relationship as the nation.

Paul says that the law was a pedagogue—a tutor or child trainer; he does not say the law was a midwife. The Israelites were already the people of God; the law was given to guide them to maturity in the faith and to the fulfillment of the promises. This observation is important because many people think that in the Old Testament people were redeemed by keeping the law, whereas Christians are saved by grace. No one has ever been redeemed by keeping the law or by doing any works; salvation has always been by the grace of God through faith. The law, then, was given as a gracious provision to a redeemed people to make them a holy nation and prepare them to be a kingdom of priests.”

That last line deeply informs me. People were not keeping the Law to try and earn God’s love. Rather, people were trying to be shaped into a holy nation and a royal priesthood. Jesus called them, “the Light of the World.”

In Leviticus 1, 2 & 3 we have three sacrifices. What is the point of each?

In the first chapter we read of the “burnt offering”. It is a sacrifice for sin (verse 4 – atonement). Its aroma is pleasing to the Lord. The principle here is that our sin, our not being that “holy nation” is being atoned for through the shedding of blood. We do that by offering to God something this is a great value, something without blemish. In other words we come to God “sorry” for what we have done. We come to Him secure in His love for us. We are not trying to buy his forgiveness. We are saying that we sincerely are remorseful. He is saying that He, God, knows it is hard. We need to work on becoming holy. There needs to be a real cost to us. We may have the best intentions, but if it, our sin, doesn’t in some way impact us, then we are not likely to change. Why is it done so much? Because we are “works in progress”. Our being made holy, our sanctification, is a lifelong process. The principle – atonement through the sacrifice of blood – is not an overly popular one today. If however we do not accept it, then we will find ourselves dismissing much of the Old Testament, and indeed the Cross.

In the second chapter we read of the “grain offering”. It is a food offering, a meal if you will. Think back to the elders on the mountain with God when the made the Covenant. They were sprinkled with blood and had a meal; two ancient rituals of being bonded together. The meal is to be of the choicest flour, no leaven (I read no hidden motives). It is to be mixed with oil which indicates joy. It is to be mixed with incense for it is offered as prayer. It is a meal with God celebrating their dedication to God.

In the third chapter we read of the “peace offering”. The peace offering celebrated the sense of well being enjoyed by the worshipers as a result of the forgiveness their sins accompanied by the acceptance of the Lord, and the dedication of their life to him. Specifically the peace offering follow worshiper’s having first met the requirements of expiation (through a sin or guilt offering) and dedication (through burnt and grain offerings).

As with the burnt and grain offerings each person was free to choose the kind of offering except that it ‘must have no physical defects.’ (vs.1). It could be ‘from the herd’ (vs. 1), ‘from the flock’ (vs. 6), or ‘a goat’ (vs. 12). The way the presentation of the offering was conducted was also similar to that of the burnt and grain offerings. But there was another aspect to the peace offering in that it. It took the form of a communal meal. I know we are not there yet but in Leviticus 7:15 we will read, “The animal’s meat must be eaten on the same day it is offered”. (Leviticus 7:15). Allen Ross writes…”Leviticus 7 will emphasize that the worshiper and the congregation ate part of the sacrifice; so this sacrifice, the celebration of being at peace with God, was considered a communal meal eaten in the presence of the Lord.”

All of this ritual was one of the greatest expressions of communion with God. That the communal meal was received from the sacrifice is striking. In almost all other sacrifices it was the offerer giving to God; but here it is as if God was returning a portion of the sacrifice for the faithful to eat in his presence. This indicates the Lord’s gracious bounty to his people and the peaceful relationship that existed within the covenant.

I realize this was a longer post, but I felt I needed to set the stage (or maybe I should say table) for what lies ahead. Leviticus is a great book. What is contained in it, all the rituals, shape God’s people. The more we can understand the reasons, the more we will be able to appreciate God and all He has done through Christ Jesus – including His superseding the Temple which he foretells in the New Testament in today’s reading.