Leviticus 1:4 The Acceptable Burnt Offering
As we have indicated, the name of this book comes from the Greek and means relating to the priests. It is a book that, I fear, is little appreciated because it is not studied carefully. It is really tragic that so many believers these days are satisfied to read a daily devotional that gives a brief passage which is hurriedly read along with an interesting little story that illustrates some truth and is perhaps treated with more interest than God’s holy word. We are told to study if we will be approved workmen. I must confess that had I not been called into the ministry I would probably be failing in this as much as so many others and am thankful to the Lord to have had to study in order to preach. There is no book more than this one where this has been a more rewarding exercise.
Briefly, the first seven chapters delineate the five sacrifices in which the priests would be involved as the people came to worship Jehovah. One must not get bogged down with the similar details of these sacrifices or he will miss the point of there being five different ones, three of the sweet savour variety and two of the non-sweet. From 6:8 the law of each of the five is given which will give additional helpful information on each. Outline them and remember, chapter divisions are not part of the inspired text. Often, the importance of the separate sacrifices will be seen in the differing details regarding each one. It takes five to show all aspects of Christ’s atoning death!
It is impossible to cover what should be said on this chapter in a few short sentences so I beg you to please take time to meditate on these things. The burnt offering is first when coming from God’s standpoint which we note is from within the tabernacle from whence He addresses Moses (v.1). It speaks of the complete satisfaction of the Father with His Son’s obedient death. It is flayed (examined) and wholly burnt, not eaten by the priests as are all of the others, for none can really identify with Him at this point as He in His death constitutes the only ground of our approach in worship. On the other hand, acceptance is seen as righteousness being transferred to us in verse four as we are accepted in the Beloved. If you have C.H.M. notes on Leviticus, read p.26. See also Scofield’s Notes. Ask for anointed eyes and heart.
Leviticus 2:1 The Meal Offering
The sweet savour offerings bring a pleasing odor to God’s nostrils to use an anthropomorphism (human-like characteristic [Gen.8:21]). As we move outward from the Holy of Holies we are being shown what it is that most pleases Him. We must remember that when God created man he was made in God’s image and what He made He saw as being good. Then the fall occurred and from then on there was nothing good in all of His creation! So what we have here in the sweet savour offerings is that which pleases Him the most and that is our lovely Lord Jesus Christ. In the meal offering we see the human perfections of Jesus. There is no blood shed here. It is His life on earth, His humanity.
The word meat in the KJV is a term meaning food and this is actually a meal offering. The absence of leaven is logical for there is no sin in our Saviour. No honey means no natural sweetness. He is all perfection but honey speaks of the best nature can offer which is not good enough. Salt speaks of His promises, oil, of the Holy Spirit and frankincense, of the fragrance of His yielded life.
As the offerer brought these things, they probably spoke to him of his need to be even in his character like the fine flour that formed the basis of this sacrifice and perhaps to make him realize that the experiences of his life were like the millstones to grind him to submission and God-likeness.
As for us, the whole burnt offering placed on the altar to be consumed speaks of our taking up the cross which is death to the sin nature. Based on this, the meal offering reminds us that we are to be the expression of Christ’s life here on earth (Phil.1:2). Ground flour with no leaven, no honey, but with frankincense and oil, eaten in the holy place as believer priests. This all has its spiritual counterpart in us as we yield our bodies to Him (Rom.12:1). (C.H.M. Notes on Leviticus has 40 pages on the meal offering - what a feeble effort this!)
Leviticus 3:1 A Sacrifice of Peace
Throughout the contemplation of these five offerings, all of which are necessary to complete the full description of our Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrificial surrender to the Father’s will, one must be constantly reminded not to miss the point of each by being overwhelmed by a sense of sameness in the details. For example, note that only male animals were acceptable in the burnt offerings, whereas both male and female were used in that which we now examine. Also, there is no deep searching by flaying, cutting into pieces and washing here. To quote C.H.M. Notes on Leviticus p.74: “There is something more in the peace offering than the abstract devotedness of Christ to the will of God. The worshiper is introduced; and that not merely as a spectator but as a participator – not merely to gaze but to feed.” (Italics mine).
Also, we must remember to consult the law of the peace offering (7:11- 36). If your Bible does not clearly delineate these divisions, outline them yourself in order to be able to observe them.
This offering, like the two before it, is a sweet savour unto the Lord for sin is not in view but it stands as a sort of bridge between the two kinds and interestingly, is the only place where leaven is present. It is as if the fellowship between a holy God and a sinful worshiper is being observed and as the peace offering was placed on top of the burnt offering it is being declared that Christ is our peace and though we are not perfect yet we can experience it. If there is known uncleanness that is another story (7:11 - 21)! Here, however, righteousness and peace embrace each other (Ps.85:10).
When we comment on chapter seven we will see more about this particular offering and discuss why it changes position and is seen at the close of the entire subject.
The fat speaks of zeal. It helps all the sacrifices that are to be burned. All zeal is worship and must be totally dedicated to the Lord. This must be true, of all places, in our music where the flesh is so apt to be prominent. All musicians should be surrendered and dedicated servants as much as pastors.
Leviticus 4:2 Sin Through Ignorance
It is here in this chapter that the whole subject changes. We are now to consider the two non-sweet savour offerings, namely the sin offering and, in the next chapter, the trespass offering. The order here is appropriate. What we are causes us to do what we do. The sin offering has, primarily, to do with our sinful nature whereas the trespass offering, our sinful acts. The key phrase regarding the former is, “if ....sin through ignorance”, and there are gradations of responsibility starting with the priest, the whole congregation, a ruler and finally the common people.
When we speak of sins of ignorance, we have to be speaking of the sinful nature for who can be responsible for what he does not know? Here we have what is expressed in II Corinthians 5:21 where God made “him to be sin for us.” It is, we believe, this aspect of the atonement from which Christ’s holy soul recoiled when He said “if it be possible let this cup pass from me” and from which the Father’s reaction was felt by the Son when He said “why hast thou forsaken me?” As C.H.M. says “He was forsaken of God for a time, that we might enjoy His presence forever” (Ps.115).
To continue quoting from this source, “We shall now consider this typical act of ‘laying on of hands’. This act was common both to the burnt offering and the sin offering; but in the case of the former, it identified the offerer with an unblemished offering; in the case of the latter, it involved the transfer of the sin of the offerer to the head of the offering.” Here then is pictured the placing of our sin upon Christ and, conversely, the righteousness of Christ being placed to our account.
If you happen to have the “Notes” mentioned above and have read his 32 pages on this offering, your head is probably spinning like mine with the verbiage. I sincerely wish I understood it all or could sit down with someone who does, who could teach me. I look forward to meeting this brother in Glory and plan to spend a year or two learning from him.
Leviticus 5:16 Making Amends
When we get to the subject of the trespass offering we encounter a bit of confusion. CHM Notes clearly divide the sin and the trespass offering at 5:14, however the latter term is used in verse six. Of this difficulty John Gill says, “it is generally thought there was a difference between a trespass offering and a sin offering; but it is not easy to say wherein the difference lies; and what has been observed by learned men is not very satisfactory: and certain it is, that the same offering is here called both a trespass offering and a sin offering; and such as were men of substance, and capable of it, were to bring a female lamb or kid; it being for sins of ignorance, a sacrifice of a less value was admitted; yet it must be a lamb, typical of Christ the Lamb of God; and atonement cannot be made, even for sins of ignorance, but by the blood and sacrifice of Christ.” I know of no better authority than this!
As to the difference between these two offerings Scofield says the following, “ The trespass‑offerings have in view rather the injury which sin does than its guilt— which is the sin‑offering aspect. What is due to God’s rights in every human being is here meant. Ps 51:4 is a perfect expression of this.”
It seems to me that a significant statement is made here in verse five about confession which does not appear anywhere else. This is stated in connection with the beginning of verse six “and he shall bring his trespass offering etc.”. Obviously, confession relates to known sin and not to the aspect of the sin nature, which is the point that Scofield made.
As New Testament believers we are taught that Christ, our sin offering, paid the penalty for our sins and we have been declared righteous (II Cor. 5:21). It is only left to us to deal with individual sins as they occur by confessing them and receiving cleansing when we do.
The other major thought connected with the trespass offering is that of restitution with a fifth part added to it (v.16). In application Macintosh (p.143) speaks of the repentant believer making “a firm stand and bear (ing) a severe testimony”. He deplores the laxity and self indulgence of his day and the “fearful amount of easy, uninfluential profession”.
Let us make sure that as testimony of our sincere repentance and confession, they are accompanied with the fifth part of good works that show forth the fruits of such an attitude.
Leviticus 6:5 The Day of our Trespass Offering
There is an interesting wording of the last part of verse five in the Septuagint version. The words “in the day of his trespass offering” appear as “the day in which he happens to be convicted.” In my Bible there is an alternative rendering, “ in the day he confesses his guilt.” Both of these are very helpful. As we have said, the trespass offering seems to differ from the sin offering in that it relates to acts of sin. It is certainly a disappointing reality that we don’t always get convicted right away about those things we know are wrong. And a case in point would be David’s sin of taking another man’s wife. It wasn’t until Nathan came to him with the accusation that David humbled himself before God pouring out his heart with those words found in Psalm fifty-one.
There is perhaps a difference between the effect upon one who merely had the Holy Spirit resting upon him for some special task and the New Testament believer who is indwelt, but we do not know. What we do know is that God hates sin and certainly we should and must hate it also.
In the early verses of this chapter reference is made to lying to one’s neighbor. Certainly we do not need to be confronted to know that lying at any time is wrong but we may sometimes rationalize about it. I think with all of us there are probably things we do wrong that in our minds we make excuses for, at least for a while. Thankfully, there is a day when we “happen to be convicted” whether the Septuagint is right here or not. If we are really desirous to be like Christ, we can be glad when the Holy Spirit is doing a Nathanistic work convicting us of calloused thinking. Just this morning I was exercised in prayer about folks in our church who so easily seem to put things ahead of the Lord. We do need to pray for one another that there will be conviction about trespassing against God’s holy character but as we do this, let us not fail to examine our own hearts that this might be the day we see the need of confessing our guilt over issues about which He is concerned and let us then be quick to repair to the Lord Jesus, our sacrifice, with our confession.
Leviticus 7:11 The Law of the Peace Offering
There are several subjects in this closing chapter dealing with the five offerings, namely, 1 - 10, the law of the trespass offering; 11 - 21, the law of the peace offering and 22 - 38. closing remarks.
The skin of the burnt offering was given to the priest according to verse eight. The Lord Jesus is our whole burnt offering. Just as in Genesis 3:21 Adam and Eve were clothed with the animal skins so we as believer- priests are clothed with the skin of the sacrifice picturing our being covered with the righteousness of Christ.
If we will remember, the peace offering was placed between the sweet savour and non-sweet savour offerings and contains cakes made without leaven and cakes made with leaven. It would seem that this spoke of its mediating nature, as if it takes hold of God on the one hand and man in the other and is like a bridge of peace. It should be noted that now in this chapter, and not without significance, the law of the peace offering comes last among the five offerings, seeming to speak of the last word as being one of peace. Christ is our peace!
A new word begins to appear as the law of the peace offering unfolds. It is the word thanksgiving. How thankful we are that our Lord Jesus has brought peace to our hearts, so thankful that we respond by feeding upon Him daily in our quiet times with Him. Interestingly, if we miss a day things begin to deteriorate but certainly there is no sense of acceptance on the third day (v.18). Also, we lose our peace as soon as any uncleanness is introduced (v.20).
Wave offerings and heave offerings are references to the manner in which the offering shall be done and are not additional offerings to the basic five which are mentioned in the summary at the close, verses 37 & 38.
We leave this section of God’s Word a bit reluctantly with the thought that we have, in the dullness of our flesh, missed much and probably must wait until we see Jesus to have our hearts fully enlightened.
Leviticus 8:36 “Things which the Lord commanded”
Frankly, I had forgotten how the little set of C.H.M. Notes had come to my hand but just now as I began to write the cover fell open to reveal the name of Olive Getchell, Brewer, Maine, so before going on let us pause for a moment. Oliver and her sister Mattie were dear maiden ladies now with Jesus, who served the Lord by entertaining His servants. Heirs of the Getchell Ice Company, they lived comfortably and delighted to set a bountiful table for saints who came their way. In addition to enjoying their kind hospitality, at some point I became the recipient of these five volumes which have often blessed my heart. Thank you dear friends and we will soon meet again.
To return to the Word of God, as you remember, we have been contemplating the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ as set forth in the five offerings of Leviticus 1 - 7. As sinners we need a sacrifice!
Macintosh brings us quickly to the subject of this chapter and the next, “but believers need a priest.” The clothing of the priests has been ready since Exodus 39, but not until the sacrifice is presented in all of its ramifications, do we find the priests being prepared for service. The order will become even more apparent as the subject of defilement is introduced shortly and dramatically (in subsequent chapters).
Aaron, properly, is anointed before the blood is shed for He represents Christ the Messiah and the tabernacle as the throne-room is sanctified and thus set apart. In all of these things, the Word of God is being diligently followed while the people stand watching at the door of the tabernacle “of the congregation” (witness, LXX). This is all for their sake!
And now the blood is shed for sinners in whose place the priests now stand, a sin offering and then a burnt offering and finally the “ram of consecration,” blood on the ear as they must be swift to hear the word, on the hand which must be quick to move in prayerful service and on the foot that will tread God’s holy court. The fat crackles and smokes as the body parts are waved before the Lord and for seven days they abide, as if for all time, in His Presence.
Leviticus 9:24 Our God – A Consuming Fire (Heb.12:29)
Consistently “the eighth day” (v.1) speaks of a new beginning. That is because it follows a seven day period which symbolizes something that is a complete whole - (a week- of days or years, as in Genesis 29:27). Note the use of the term in the following passages, 12:3; 14:10, 23; 15:14, 29. Since Christ’s resurrection was on the first day of the week which technically is the same as the eighth, a new beginning is associated with it and essentially is based upon it. Praise God that because of His resurrection we have new life hence a new beginning in time and eternity.
It seems that in this chapter we have what we might call a “play by play”description of the sacrificial system as it pertained to the leadership but indicative of all (with the prescribed oblations). Notice again that along with the burnt offering, a sin offering was brought. The hands on the head of the sin offering spoke of the sin of the offerer being transferred to the substitute while the hands on the head of the burnt offering spoke of the represented perfection and acceptability being transferred to the offerer, i.e. our sins placed on Christ and His righteousness placed to our account.
What a great day that was! “Today the Lord will appear unto you.” There was no trespass offering on this day though unfortunately there would be during many of the days that lay ahead of Israel. If only they could have retained the rapport that today was theirs with Jehovah God. In fact, even this day they would learn a lesson about the holiness of God that they would not soon forget.
After the offerings were made, Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle and came out soon to bless the people. This is a pattern to be followed by all who minister. Into the tabernacle, that is, into God’s presence first and then coming out to bless, a lesson every pastor, teacher, singer yea every Christian worker should learn and follow suit. Pray earnestly for your pastor that he would be more interested in preparing his heart in God’s presence than preparing his nicest sermon.
Wow! Out from the tabernacle came fire that consumed the sacrifice! It would not always be so, but on this day God was showing what it was that pleased Him. The people shouted and fell on their faces before Him.
Leviticus 10:3 I Will be Glorified
Hopefully we have seen that there is a definite order to the themes in this book and this will become more apparent as we proceed. Our chapter today is extremely important. It provides the only narrative material in Leviticus whereas the next book is almost entirely made up of stories. Also, in this chapter, I believe, we have the key verse to the book which is verse 10. In these next five chapters we find the word unclean appearing about 90 times and we will not grasp the importance of this book nor appreciate its placement in our Bible if we do not observe the thrust of these chapters or the meaning of this key verse. I beg you not to be casual about these things, for to be so is to commit the same sin as did Nadab and Abihu. (Verse 9 may be a clue to their problem as they may have been drunk.)
Verse 10 emphasizes the importance of holiness in God’s program and He is about to illustrate its meaning through the simple concept of clean versus unclean. First He must get our attention. He did this in a manner He often used, viz. the taking of human life. Israel would experience this for thirty eight years in the wilderness due to their disobedience until every man, then 20, would die in judgement. God is very serious about being in control! Read Deut.17:12 -13. Be very careful here not to forget that He loves us, He is just not an indulgent parent as are most of us.
We have an adequate sacrifice and priesthood provided by a holy God, what we now must have is a people who realize the need of such, in other words, how shall His people learn the depths of their depravity? Only as we learn the exceeding sinfulness of our fallen nature do we begin to appreciate the eternal worth of our great salvation and, more importantly, the exceeding worthiness of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. How the Father loves Him and appreciates His obedience and we are only beginning to see it through the darkened glass. This book will help us if we let it, so let us ask for the grace and wisdom to see.
The proper use of the Old Testament will help us understand that our changeless God still seeks a people in whom He will be sanctified and before whom He will be glorified!
Leviticus 11:45 I Am the Lord
As indicated previously, we now enter upon a new and totally different subject and series
which spans the next five or six chapters. The theme running throughout is holiness and the key words are clean and unclean. Holiness is an intangible concept so our Master Teacher uses something very easy to understand to illustrate it, namely these two key words. We must not ask why these various subjects are clean or unclean. God had His reasons and sometimes they might make sense to us but the whole point is to learn to distinguish the difference (10:10) and obey. Like the words in the Charge of the Light Brigade, “Tis not to reason why, tis but to do or die,” etc.
The first subject has to do with dietary laws. We must resist the temptation to “reason why” though in some cases we might think there is a reasonable explanation. The simple point is there are going to be two classifications of food clean and unclean and the key thought is found in verse 44. Oh, if we can only grasp this simple truth, I am your God and I say so therefore do it! Of course we greatly err if we try to make these specific rules apply to the church. They were for Israel alone, but what applies to the Spirit-filled Christian is the need to obey our God with unquestioning responsiveness. In our libertine society the once much read little tract entitled, Others May, You Cannot seems outdated and extreme but God’s word calling for holiness, 1Peter 1:14 - 17, is as relevant today as ever.
We do have further light on this subject and I beg the reader to follow through. In chapter 20 verses 24 - 26 Jehovah states His reason for this classification. He is teaching the great Biblical doctrine of separation. There are two kinds of people in the world, those who are mine and those who are not. Three times a day you eat and every time you do you declare that you are My people by eating only what I allow. Don’t miss the emphasis in v.25 “ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean,” etc.(underling mine).
That some of the creatures were scavengers is immaterial for many were not, some were creepy crawlys, but all were not. We are unwise to look for any other reason except perhaps that one day He would reveal to Peter on a house top in Joppa that the dispensation was changing and the dietary rules no longer pertained.
Leviticus 12:3 The Eighth Day
Job asked the leading question that brings us to the proposition of our devotional today, “who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one” (14:4). The doctrinal subject involved here is that of total depravity and it is certain that God wants us to be totally impressed with it. There are only a relative few of us who, when looking at a newborn baby, would be willing to say that this cute little bundle of joy is a hell-bound sinner, but that is exactly the teaching of Scripture. That is, of course, if it reaches the age of understanding and is never born again which is the destiny of most new borns.
I think that the Lord wanted every Jewish mother to be conscious of the fact that she had produced a child of hell apart from the grace of God. While circumcision pictured a new beginning as a child of the covenant with the symbolic amputation of the Adamic nature, for a period of 40 days from birth it was hoped she would be impressed with the need to do all in her motherly power to see to it that this child would abide in “the law of thy mother” (Prov.1:8).
The bringing of a sin offering to the tabernacle reinforces the concept that this has nothing to do with any sinful act which always required a trespass offering, on the other hand the sin offering spoke of the sin nature.
Probably the requirement of a longer period of separation for a female child was due to the fact that she had produced another producer which added to the mother’s responsibility.
Remember, this child, whatever the sex, is a gift from God and who more than the mother would be responsive to His concerns and what better time than at the first days of motherhood to impress them upon her. Should not a Christian mom feel a similar responsibility? Children not won for Christ will definitely end up in hell and irresponsible parents deserve the millstone treatment (Matt.18:6).
Leviticus 13:45 The Cry of the Leper
Do not try to find an application for all of the details of these two chapters. Again, like the sacrifice, it is the over- all principles that will give meaning. Also, do not attempt to correlate the leprosy of the Bible with the modern disease by the same name. They are very different from each other. Matthew Henry says that this leprosy of Leviticus “is a plague not now known in the world” (vol.1, p.491). With this agree J.F.B and John Gill.
What was it then? It was a plague arising in the heart that produced a loathsome physical condition, an uncleanness that fell as judgement from God upon the Israelites. The first reference is Exodus 4:6 and relates it to the heart (bosom). It is clear from Miriam’s experience (Num.12:10 ) that it is a judgement directly from God. This is supported by the similar episodes regarding Gehazi in II Kings 5:27 and King Uzziah (15:5). The only remedy is that prescribed in these two chapters in Leviticus. No physician or medicine is called for, only a priest.
In application, God is dramatizing the terrible effects of spiritual sickness, i.e. plagues of the heart. Some day we will probably find out that most of the problems of life stem from this plague and we know that just as in Matt.8:2, Christ is the answer (our High Priest). It affected all who came in contact making them unclean, ostracizing them from the fellowship of the believers. If we had acute spiritual awareness, we would hear a crescendo arising from the church from our society of friends or from family members, the cry of the leper, “unclean, unclean.” Why do teenagers not want the society of adults, why do men not pray at prayer meeting, why do people not talk about Jesus, why is there not more life and power in preaching? An examination of the heart might reveal the answer. How affected are homes and clothing, material things? But there is cleansing.
Leviticus 14:10 The Day of Cleansing
Praise God for the eighth day! There is hope for the leper, there is hope for believers today, but the problem is recognition and the solution, resignation. “It seemeth to me there is...a plague in the house” (v.32). It doesn’t matter what I wear to church, its old fashion to talk about modesty anymore. I don’t need to go to church more than once on Sunday, I work hard all week and I need my recreation. I wonder why I am sick all the time. Our church doesn’t practice discipline. Why don’t people come out to Sunday nite services? Where are the prayer warriors? I couldn’t live without my T.V. Contemporary music is where it’s at, etc. etc.
Notice, the primary offering in the case of leprosy is the trespass offering (v.12). This would indicate the acknowledgment of wrong doing. The blood from this offering is then applied to the ear, thumb and toe. “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:7).
To sum it up, sin not dealt with can cause a multitude of problems and to some degree we all suffer with the guilty ones. A husband may pay thousands of dollars in doctor bills for a family member who is sick due to unconfessed sin. Don’t get paranoid, all sickness is not due to failure to deal with sin, but let’s face it, how much do we hear about this subject from the pulpit compared to the teaching in the Word? Look how it affects the whole family when Dad is not willing to give up watching the wrong stuff on T.V. when he should be leading the family in devotions.
I’m afraid there is a plague in many Christian homes these days and the problems will not go away until there is recognition that there is a spiritual remedy and there is willingness to do something about it. I John 1:9 is still in the Book and there is an eighth day solution.
Leviticus 15:2 Issues Out of the Flesh
Remember, what Jehovah was seeking to impress upon these, His people, was the fact that sin had made a thorough wreck of the human race and, as He later said thru Paul, “ there is none righteous, no not one....there is none that doeth good, no not one” (Romans 3:10 - 12). We have a tendency to think that perhaps God is being too hard on us, but could we see sin like He sees it we would not wonder at His dealings. He absolutely hates the flesh and the ruin sin has brought upon the human race. Praise Him that He has seen fit to redeem us, but in order to do that He had to dump all of the filthiness in this running sore of a spiritual cesspool upon His pure and lovely Son Who bore it for us that we might be clean. But without the continual witness of the Holy Spirit, how could this people be reminded of how much He loathed the flesh? He chose the method revealed in these five chapters. Every issue from the flesh would bring ceremonial separation thus impressing upon them the reality of their utter depravity. Even this did not work to produce a humble walk and Israel today demonstrates that fact.
Today we are reminded by the indwelling Spirit that there is nothing good in the flesh, (Romans 7:18). Yet with Saul-like persistence we are bound to save “the best of the flock” to sacrifice to Him and so does every one who attempts to serve God in his own strength. Let us carefully study Paul’s teaching in Roman six and make certain that we understand and are appropriating our position in grace rather than practicing Galatianism by adding works to grace. When we attempt to serve the Lord in our own strength and with our own ingenuity we are doing just that. The indicators will surface in our prayer life. If we are thinking “position” we will be speaking “position.” Are we continually praising God that we died when Christ died, are we dealing with sin by reckoning ourselves to be dead to it? Are we yielding our bodies as those alive from the dead?
Ask the Lord to show you if you are walking in the Spirit, teaching, praying, preaching in the Spirit- or are these rather oozings of the flesh?
Leviticus 16:30 “That Ye May Be Clean”
When one first reads this chapter he is bewildered to know where it is going or why it is so placed if, as we have assumed, there is an order to the events in this book. When we arrive, however, at verse twenty-nine our wondering ceases if we have not by this time guessed at the theme. As C.H.M. states, “the tenth day of the seventh month was a unique day in Israel: there was no other day in the year like it.” This is the great day of atonement in the nation and why its events are detailed here rather than later in chapter twenty-three where all of the sabbaths or feast days are catalogued might be somewhat puzzling except that we know from past experience that God always has a reason for what He does.
I think that in view of all of the emphasis on uncleanness, this is where God interjects the thought that He has taken care of the problems for the whole nation once and for all by means of this special day’s activities. It is the same as saying of New Testament saints what Hebrews 10:14 in its context maintains, that Christ has by one offering “perfected forever them that are sanctified.”
As mentioned earlier, the occurrence of this day of atonement just once in a calender year would be a type of a once for all event. Verse fourteen, making mention of the sprinkling of the blood, indicates that it was done seven times. This again pictures completion.
To apply this we could conclude that the emphasis of this chapter speaks of positional sanctification or the “ye in me” side of the spiritual equation and conversely, the subject of the next chapter relates to the fact of the “life of the flesh (being) in the blood” which is the other side, namely “I in you”( John 14:20).
Lack of space and time forbids the comments one might make on the linen garments (v.4) and the scapegoat (v.10). A fascinating excursion into the meaning of the words “the Lord’s lot” in reference to the second goat may be found in C.H.M. Notes. You will not regret the effort but be prepared to spend quality time at it.
Leviticus 17:11 Life in the Blood
The writer begs you dear reader to enter upon this subject reverently as if on holy ground. Approaching the door of the tabernacle, the scene is one of death. There is no beauty that we should desire Him. We would fain hide our faces but we must gaze upon the cross of Jesus where the “very dying form of one” suffers there in our place. Is there no other way but this? May I not find some way around this bitter sweet scene, is there no other fountain for my cleansing?
“Foul, I to the fountain fly, wash me Saviour or I die.” Of all verses in Scripture about God’s most sacred liquid remedy for sin and uncleanness, I think first of Revelation 1:6 “unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Washed in the blood! If that is what it takes to be clean, oh thank you, Lord Jesus, for that fountain opened for my cleansing!
The thing about the blood is this, there is life in it. I not only have the washing afforded the old covenant believers but on New Testament ground I find that, formerly denied its nourishment, I now am commanded to drink it for now I am not only “accepted in the beloved” but the Beloved is in me! Galations 2:20 - quote it and save my having to write it. Ye in me - the old covenant, I in you, the new. The position was theirs, the power to live it is ours.
As, at the table, we lift the cup to our lips, may we celebrate the glorious fact that with His indwelling, everything He asks of us we can do - no, He can do as we yield our bodies to Him. Hallelujah!
Leviticus 18:1 Walk in My Ordinance
Intermarriage between family members was rife among the Egyptians and Canaanites. but in these prohibitions is clearly forbidden to God’s people. The term “uncover nakedness” is, according to Gill and J.F.B. the same as to “lie carnally with.” It would have made no sense for God to give them a lecture on genetics so He merely tells them, “don’t do it because I am the Lord and I say so.” Sounds like parents of young children, which is agreeably correct and commendable. I think, however, that it is wise of parents to take it to the next level and assure their offspring that they speak from God’s authority rather than their own.
God’s word is the absolute highest level of authority and should never be questioned. In this case we now know why it is a reasonable command to abstain from incest, but what about verse twenty-two? We should need no other reason for obedience to this problem than the fact that it comes directly from Jehovah’s mouth. The issue is whether the Bible is God’s authoritative word. As our Heavenly Parent it should always be enough for Him to speak without ever having to explain Himself. Obedience should be always immediate and implicit.
We also should always give God the benefit of the doubt if there is any question as to what is meant by a particular verse or passage. It shows where the affections of our heart be when we are always quick to decide a matter in our own favor. I know two dear brothers who have remained single after a divorce because their wives are still living and whose lives are a sweet savor offering.
The New Testament counterpart to this chapter would be found, for example, in Ephesians 4:1 - 17. We live in such an age of sexual impurity that it behooves us as God’s children to bend over backwards to show that we are different. It is interesting to find in the KJV the word walk in our text and its counterpart live (vs. 4 & 5). In the Ephesians passage we are instructed to walk as children of light, to walk circumspectly and to walk in love and I would simply add jump when He speaks, i.e. be quick to obey.
Leviticus 19:32 An Old Man’s Ramblings
The good fellow who spent many hours of his time dividing up our English Bible into chapters and verses sure got a break when he struck Leviticus. Have you noticed how many chapters begin like this one? Frankly, I had not. Also please note how verse two harks back to the theme verse in 10:10. We haven’t seen the word holy very much, but the word clean means the same thing and is the Lord’s way of helping us with the meaning of an intangible concept. He is like that. He does the same with light and darkness, if you notice. Of course, you have already read this chapter before reading these words, so you noted how often the words “I am the Lord” appeared (— times). (Have the children count them).
This passage almost sounds Pauline and most of it needs no commentary though I will venture a few thoughts now that you have taken time to read THE WORD OF THE LIVING GOD.
Do you ever get tired of hearing people say “Isn’t the Lord good” almost as if it is an innovation – I always feel like shouting “ Of course He is good – what do you expect”! Well, here we have a classic example of His goodness in verses 9 and 10 and, of course, the reason why our Lord Jesus cursed the fig tree when the time of figs was not yet (Mk.11:13). If it had been the time for figs to be ripe the tree would not have revealed the unfaithfulness of its owner in leaving nothing for the Poor. (I am) The barren tree shouted the state of Israel in His ears.
How far does love of neighbor go (v.17)? Why not mingled seeds and cloth? More object lessons like the clean and unclean animals. God hates mixture – He loves purity – for the same reason Jews will have a casket without nails, or so I have been told. The doctrine of separation illustrated.
Mother, we have been looking at the beautiful fruit in our orchard for four years, when can I taste it? Next year my son – and don’t ask why – you know the answer. Because the Lord says so! “Even so come Lord Jesus.” Waiting is hard but will be worth it.
Leviticus 20:26 Mine
I wondered, and possibly you have too, exactly what the Lord meant when He spoke of a person being “cut off” from among his people. I believe the answer is found by comparing verses three and four in this chapter, and that is, he was to be killed. In this case punishment was for passing any of his seed through the fire to Molech. This normally related to child sacrifice probably accomplished by special devices which were constructed so that when infants were placed in the idol’s outstretched counter-weighted hands they would be dropped into a flaming pit supposedly passing by that means, into Molech’s domain as was done by Carthaginians in their worship of Saturn. In this case Molech was a god of the Ammonites and Phoenicians. The use of the word again in verse 2 shows the awareness of the author of repetition, this same proscription having been given in 18:21.
It is obvious that the practices described in this chapter were all abhorred by an holy God and were given as one of the reasons why He was removing the Canaanite nations and giving the land to His people Israel with the warning that the same thing could happen to them (and did ). See Deuteronomy 9:4-6.
In the closing verses (24 - 26) we are furnished with a clear explanation as to why Jehovah imposed dietary laws. It is another example of the use of an object lesson as we have already observed. The word therefore in verse 25 is all the evidence we need along with the use of the word separated. The matter is clinched in verse 26 “and ye shall be holy unto me for I the Lord am holy and have severed you from other people that ye should be mine.” (Italics ours). We might speculate, argue and debate the question of why, which is beside the point. The fact is God chose the nation Israel to be His holy people setting them apart from all other nations. Through them salvation and blessing would come to the whole world (Gen.12:3) and while we, the wild olive branches (Rom.11:17), enjoy the special favor of His grace, He still has promises to keep to them and will. Praise His Name!
Leviticus 21:18 Priests with Flat Noses
The subject matter in chapters 21 and 22 is similar but in the former case relates to the acceptability of the priests and the latter to the offerings. Both represented our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore were to be as perfect as nature could be. The priests, as a class, picture all believers, whose fellowship with Jehovah can only be affected by their own failure. ( It is a principle, sometimes overlooked, that nothing or no-one can affect our walk with the Lord adversely except sin on our own part, let come what may).
The problem was that soon death would be very common place, for during the thirty-eight years of wandering in the wilderness 603,548 men would die besides women and children. The men from twenty years old would die in judgement for failure to enter the promised land. Anyone attending these people at their death became ceremonially unclean and fellowship with God was broken for a period of time (Num. 19:11). He therefore made it a rule that priests were not allowed to become defiled even for relatives (an unmarried sister excepted). This quite possibly was in order that their ministry not be interrupted. Would that all of God’s people would put Him ahead of family.
Priests with blemishes could eat but not offer “the bread of his God.” Each of the imperfections mentioned seem to have a spiritual counterpart. For example, a flat nose would speak of a lack of discernment, superfluous blemishes like warts or moles perhaps picture character disfigurement. A crookbacked is one whose spiritual backbone is faulty and a dwarf one whose standards do not measure up etc.,etc. All of God’s children can put their feet, though lame (Mephibosheth), under His table, but He requires that all of us who serve Him be morally fit for the task. Church discipline is designed to handle whatever we personally overlook (I Jn. 1:9) so in Christ there can always be healing and restoration for any and all spiritual imperfections.
Of course, in the physical, none of these things trouble us for God looks on the heart, which is helped not hindered by difficulties that drive us to Christ whose grace is always sufficient.
Leviticus 22:21 “In the Beloved Accepted Am I”
There are primarily two subjects in the chapter before us and the division is obvious (17). I will quote extensively from C.H.M.
“Now, we have both the perfect priest and the perfect sacrifice in the Person of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. He having ‘offered Himself without spot to God,’ passed into the heavens as our great High-Priest, where He ever liveth to make intercession for us. The epistle to the Hebrews dwells elaborately upon these two points. It throws into vivid contrast the sacrifice and the priesthood of the Mosaic system and the Sacrifice and Priesthood of Christ. In Him we have divine perfectness, whether as the Victim or as the Priest. We have all that God could require, and all that man could need. His precious blood has put away all our sins, and His all-prevailing intercession ever maintains us in all the perfectness of the place into which His blood has introduced us. ‘We are complete in Him’ (Col.2); and yet, so feeble and so faltering are we in ourselves; so full of failure and infirmity; so prone to err and stumble in our onward way, that we could not stand for a moment were it not that ‘He ever liveth to make intercession for us’.”
Only the most perfect animal could be used in sacrifice since it pre-figured our Lord Jesus Christ and He is the acceptable One (v.21) and we in Him (Eph.1:6).
In verse 27 we see that before one of the sacrificial animals would be accepted, it must be “under the dam” (female parent) for seven days representing the end of the old relationship. The “eighth day” speaks of a new beginning with an acceptable offering. I think that here is the only place in the Bible where this is mentioned but here it is very appropriate. Up until the moment of conversion, we are associated with our parent Adam, but at the moment Jehovah’s wrath shifted from us to the acceptable One, we had a new beginning and became associated in God’s mind with the ever living Christ, God’s beloved Son.
See Malachi 1:8 and 14 to see why the Lord spoke against blemished animals being used in temple worship.
Leviticus 23:40 “Ye Shall Rejoice”
According to our outline of subjects and in view of their consecutive development we come, under the practical section, (chapters 18 - 27) to the enjoyable prospect of fellowship. Heading the list is the subject of the feasts of Jehovah. One of the features that pervades the feasts is the concept of rest. The prelude to the chapter is a reference to the weekly Sabbath (v.3) with the proscription against work being repeated nine times. The words seven and seventh appear seventeen times in this one chapter. What does it all signify?
There are seven feasts during the Jewish year, ending on their seventh month. These feasts tell the story of redemption and are especially meaningful for the New Testament believer. On what was designated as the beginning of months the Passover is celebrated on the fourteenth day when the Lamb was slain and deliverance from Egypt was achieved. Then began a seven day feast of unleavened bread. For us, of course, this pictures the death of Christ, our release from the bondage of sin and the beginning of a life of victory (sin gone forever {7 days} as far as Jehovah was concerned). Immediately the harvest began with the firstfruits waved in the temple (Christ, the Firstfruit, arose). Fifty days later, after seven times seven days had occurred, the feast of weeks (Pentecost-v.16) took place and the harvest begins in earnest. The next event awaited during the period of harvest is the sound of the trumpet (v.24) in the seventh month. The High Priest emerges from the sanctuary on the tenth day and on the fifteenth day (as if there were no time between the Passover and this day), the feast of Tabernacle occurred typifying the millennial reign of Christ on earth, begins. This ends in another seven day period with the Great Day of the feast (v.30), the eighth day signifying a new day dawning – Eternity begins!
Because of the timing of these feasts, a devout Jewish male would be in Jerusalem for all of these events.
Wonderful love of my Wonderful Lord!
Leviticus 24:23 Obedient Involvement
Continuing the theme of fellowship we have to consider first of all the subject of the oil for the lampstand. Apparently providing this oil was a joint project among the members of the congregation and the oil in the seven branched lampstand provided the only light in the sanctuary. I believe that the fact that no natural light illuminated that Holy Place bespoke that the Spirit of God provided wisdom to the priests which would be forwarded to the people as the need arose. The wise teaching priests would anticipate God’s guidance as they fellowshipped with Him there.
Every Sabbath the twelve loaves representing the individual tribes were replaced and those that had been in God’s presence were consumed. Bread absorbs and perhaps the sense was that on behalf of the whole nation the priests were experiencing God’s fulness that, once again, they might be His agent and mediator to the tribes.
An example is given of the need for guidance in the case of blasphemy and we are taught by it an important principle. All who heard it were to place their hands on the head of the offending party as if they were consenting to God’s judgement and all the congregation were involved in carrying out the sentence. This too speaks of fellowship in the sense of being responsible and accountable to each other. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Absolutely, did we not just read back in 19:15, “in righteousness thou shalt judge thy neighbor” and in v.17 “thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor and not suffer sin upon him.”
The application of these principles in our New Testament churches is obvious, we must involve ourselves in church discipline for the good of our brethren, both the individuals who sin and to preserve soundness in the body. God will indeed judge those assemblies that do not practice this aspect of fellowship (1 Cor.5).
Leviticus 25:11 The Year of Jubilee
What a unique set up! We call our possessions after our own name, i.e. the Smith place
or Jonestown. Bucksport was originally Buck’s town, so called because Jonathan Buck started the town and owned land there. He was in the early days the most important person in the town. God’s plan was totally different than anything we know about these days. He said, “ the land is mine” (v.23). The way He arranged things in order that the people remember that fact is seen in this chapter and was governed by the law of the year of Jubilee. Every fifty years all land that had been sold during the interim went back to the original family and people who had sold themselves into servitude were free.
The thing that impresses me is how blessed these people were to be cared for so completely especially after they got into the land. It speaks to us of the rest we have in Christ as we come to understand our position in Him. It illustrates the truth of I Peter 5:7 “casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you.” The land is His and we are “camped” on it with every need supplied (next chapter).
While writing this we were interrupted by a phone call from a lady we have been counseling who has had some very difficult problems in the past. For an hour she shared the joys of her victories and it has been a blessing to hear what the Lord means to her since she has been putting the above verse into practice and learning what she is and has in Christ. I take everyone who has problems to Romans six. Dead people don’t have many problems. The power of the resurrection is hard to top. I wish you could have heard our pastor preaching it fervently Sunday morning from Philippians three. There is absolutely no problem in the Christian life that this message will not solve when believers are ready to stop struggling and start resting in Christ’s finished work, yielding their bodies to His control. It is like the day of Jubilee to see everything come under His control and to rest in the fact that, like the land in our chapter today, I am His!
Pray that your pastor will preach the crucified life and the power of the resurrection often, yea very often, Paul did!
Leviticus 26:13 Going Upright
Looking back over this book as New Testament believers we have been reminded of basic doctrines and the “mercies of God” (Romans 12:1). Five is the number of grace and our Gracious God has sacrificed His beloved Son for us. He has drawn a picture of this in the five sacrifices in Leviticus one to seven. Christ is our High Priest and the Church is a priesthood. God’s hatred of the flesh is seen in the chapters on uncleanness versus holiness. He is the Lord (Jehovah) and He has made us His separated people. One day on Calvary our Lamb, our High Priest entered the Holy of Holies with His own blood in propitiation for our sins (Rom.3:25) and there He remained, that Day of Atonement ushering in for us a continual feast as its corollary. Christ our Passover! No leaven in our communion! The blessed Holy Spirit to gladden our hearts through the harvest! Awaiting the sound of the trumpet and the rounding out of our earthly sojourn in the sharing of the millennial throne!
As we await the year of release, the Jubilee, chapter twenty-six is classic. The key is verse two. “Ye shall keep my Sabbaths” – that is, you must learn to rest in the finished work of Christ (Hebrews 4:9-11, LOOK IT UP). Unbelief for Israel resulted in failure “to keep my commandments” and “walk in my statutes”(v.3) and resulted in God walking contrary unto them (vs. 24 & 28) whereas for us unbelief is failure to believe the New Testament message of grace apart from works, the reality of Christ in us and the revelation that the Church is His body.
Secondly, (back to verse two) “reverence my sanctuary.” That is, the recognition, for us, that our bodies are His temple and must be yielded to Him (Rom.12:1). How else could we apply this? This is the only temple of God on earth today!
Finally, note the blessings of obedience and the consequences of failure which make up the bulk of this passage. Showers of blessing, fruitfulness, peace, victory and God’s presence and favor as God walks among us (v.12). On the other hand, sickness, economic reverses, powerlessness, nervous fearfulness, as He walks contrary to us. Let us pray for the humbling of all uncircumsized hearts in our churches (v.41).
Leviticus 27:2 A Singular Vow
This entire chapter has to do with dedication of persons or things to the Lord and is probably the Old Testament equivalent to Romans 12:1 & 2. The word singular is very strong and means wondrous, marvelous or special. The implication would be that this kind of dedication was uncommon. Perhaps examples might be found in Samuel’s dedication by his mother and in the story of Jepthah’s daughter (Judges 11:29). The gradation would have been due perhaps to the ultimate value of one’s services, the terms good and bad according to my center column reference meaning of great or little value.
The thoughts of Andrew Bonar are interesting. He says it was a mistake to think that the money was paid in order to free the offerer from obligation. “As for persons devoted, there was no substitution allowed ...it was an addition to the offering of the person...it is a privilege to be taken into the Lord’s service; and the man is therefore represented as buying his admission. It is all to show how precious is the Lord’s service,” etc.
My thoughts as I read this chapter were to equate it with the Paul’s words in Romans twelve. What an excellent way to close the book of Leviticus, with a setting forth of the matter of vows. Obviously, they were of a voluntary nature and were considered to be of great value as indicated by the term singular. I was, therefore, pleased to find one of the commentators making the same comparison. He ended by saying, “If we have not yielded ourselves to God we are not yet in normal Christian relations with Him.” This certainly is true and explains why so many believers are apparently not living victoriously. God is not going to bless those who know they should yield and don’t. It reflects unbelief not to do so and we know what happened to Israel when they failed to enter the promised land because of unbelief (Heb.3:7- 19).
