Okay friends, who else groans when they think of Leviticus? I have only read the book from front to back once and it is dull. One of those reads where you can’t remember what you just read and at times swear you’ve already read those words before. (Hint: You probably have.)
When I asked my friends on Facebook what they thought of Leviticus. I got a variety of responses:
- Impossible Expectations
- Extremely redundant butchering instructions
- Poop outside your camp
- Tedious
- Lots of blood and arbitrary rules which help you find favor with God
- Thank you Jesus. So much blood.
- Antiquated laws in light of modern refrigeration
You get the idea…
But stick with me, because hidden within Leviticus is glorious life.
Commentator A.A. Bonar wrote, “Leviticus is a book of great significance… [because] it provides us with a background to all the other books of the Bible.” We cannot understand the turbulent history of Israel without it. We cannot understand the prophets without it. And most of all, we cannot understand the need for Jesus’ death on the cross without it.
The truth is, when reading Leviticus I get defensive. I dislike the idea that I would need to keep all 247 laws (in Leviticus alone!) and have to make sacrifice after sacrifice in order to be found clean. I am offended that as a menstruating woman I would be ostracized 12 times a year from my community.
I am horrified that death is often the consequence of sin.
Because, well, I don’t think our sins are “that bad.”
But I’m so “well adjusted” to this fallen world, I don’t see the consequences – the brokenness we live in. Do we know how much we hurt one another? Do we comprehend how our sin affects the world?
God does. In His holiness and perfection He cannot bear the pain we cause. He hates sin. Not because He sees Himself as “better than.” Not because holiness is something to be arrogant about. No, He hates sin because sin kills.
So He did something about it.
Through the Law – in all of the rituals, redundant butchering instructions, and So.Much.Blood. – God provided a way for His people to be reconciled to Him.
Through the Law, the people were made holy as God is holy.
In our sinfulness, we need a mediator to go before God. That is who the priests were. The many sacrifices and The Day of Atonement {see below for an explanation these} were the means by which the people were made holy,
The Law was given to the people of God as a means for them to be reconciled to Him. [Tweet “The Law was grace for a people who were damned without it.”]
Separated by sin, brought together by grace.
But God did not stop there.
The LORD also wanted His people to be reconciled to one another. He desired to see His people thrive in the land and with one another. So, every 50th year was The Year of Jubilee when all debts were released. Slaves were set free. Land was returned to the families who sold it out of need.
The management of the physical property symbolized the relational continuity that was facilitated by God in His Law. No one person or family was to rule over another. They were to treat one another as equals, watching out for the good of each other.
We tend to see the Law as a list of “have tos” in order to be good. The truth is, people were never good. But they were being sanctified. Just as we are. God never expected His people to be able to keep all of His laws. If He did, He would not have provided the sacrificial system or The Day of Atonement. God knew that they would fail at keeping the Law, just as He knows we will.
Let us thank and praise God that He saw our need was greater than what the Law could provide. Jesus, who lives forever, is our perfect mediator.
Amen.
The Significance of the Offerings:
- Burnt offering: Total surrender to God (chapter 1)
- Grain offering: acknowledgment of God’s provision (ch 2)
- Fellowship offering: Expressing the desire of a continuation of and deepening relationship with God (ch 3)
- Sin and Guilt Offering: acknowledgment of sin and provided by God to atone for sin’s damages and breaks in relationship with God (4:1-6:7)
The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16):
While the offerings mentioned above were made for individuals, on The Day of Atonement, sacrifice was made on behalf of the entire nation of Israel as a whole so that they could walk in relationship with God.
There were two young male goats. One was to be a sin offering, a sacrifice atoning for the sins of Israel as a whole. (Leviticus 16:15-16) The second was to be the scapegoat (ever wonder where that word came from?) which would carry the sin of the people far from them.
“When Aaron has finished making atonement… he shall bring forward the live goat…” (16:20)
Aaron would place his hands on the scapegoat’s head and confess over it “all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites – all their sins – and put them on the goat’s head.” (20:21) The goat was then brought by another man far into the wilderness. “The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place…” (20:22)
The sins of Israel are literally carried as far away from the people as possible, never to return.
“Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins.” (16:30)
It is true that the book we think is annoying, is the most significant in the redemption plan! I’m loving how you expose the story and purpose of each book in the old testament. I’m thrilled at your depth of study and writing! 🙂
Thank you for your encouraging words! This was a hard one for me to get through.
Yeah! I can imagine 🙂