Leviticus Sunday School
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
Leviticus is a hard book to study, mainly because it is misunderstood. Like 80% of people quit their bible reading plans at Leviticus.
It is mocked and the butt of many bible jokes.
We read John and Psalms and its this beautiful literature and then we read and treat the rest of the Bible like we’re reading Psalms and John — when it is not all written the same way.
It’s like reading your Grandma’s birth certificate and complaining that it’s boring. Yeah because you’re reading it wrong.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
This includes Leviticus!
The Bible is good for you. Take your Leviticus medicine!
Leviticus is not a book to be read as much as it is a book to be studied.
It’s not a page turner. It is a bunch of lists and charts and commands.
It’s a cook book.
The 2 biggest complaints of this book is that it is boring and that it is irrelevant.
As we read these lists of laws and commands, we might think, who could ever fulfill this? Who could ever remember and live up to this crazy standard. Christ did and Christ does.
So, as we are reading, we can read with the end in mind knowing that Christ has fulfilled this law and has allowed us proximity to God.
the picture of fulfilled is not like a check list that now this item is complete we move on from it.
The way the Jewish people would have thought about the way of “fulfilled” would be more akin to a cup now being full to the brim. It is fulfilled.
We no longer have to work to fill this cup. Christ has filled it.
God’s standards have not changed! He is still Holy. God is still requiring sacrifices from us! They are just now different kinds of sacrifices.
39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
Everyone (who is in Christ) is free from everything.
Leviticus is meant to overwhelm you.
Perhaps we think it’s boring because we are used to thinking that the Bible is a devotional book so we treat every piece of Scripture the same.
It’s not boring you’re just reading it wrong and putting an expectation on it that it is not interested in fulfilling.
And Leviticus, as being a part of Scripture, is just as relevant today as it was to the Levities when it was first written.
It is part of the canon that helps to make us complete and equipped for every good work.
2 keys words for this book: Holiness and Proximity
1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
This is a paradox.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
God is terrifying to those in sin. God cannot tolerate sin. God will not tolerate sin in His Presence.
There should be a holy fear that we have towards God.
AND YET - paradoxically - through the blood of Jesus -we have access to God, so much so, that we can even BOLDLY - confidently - approach the Throne.
Confident - CON/FIDE = With Faith.
Leviticus is how an UNHOLY people can have access and proximity with a HOLY God.
We have lost a sense of reverence with the Presence of God.
There is this consumeristic mindset all around us and so we bring that mindset into church and think — “okay Pastor, try and bless me?! Okay God, where are my answered prayers? Okay worship team, you do your thing and let’s sing some songs.”
No. You are here to GIVE something before you are here to RECEIVE something.
You don’t get to come into the Presence of God empty handed.
God requires FROM ALL OF US!
Leviticus flys in the face of the consumeristic, “bless-me” mindset that our culture is in.
If you were to meet with the Governor, you’d probably dress a little nicer, you’d think of what you’d want to say, you would prepare yourself.
And yet, we have lost this mindset in our churches.
I remember sitting at FGF and some brought a bag of chips and a can of coke to eat during the service. YIKES!
And this is a paradox. We get to have access through Christ — but we still have sacrifices to offer God. We still should have a Holy Fear of God!
Leviticus teaches us how to be close to a Holy God.
Let’s dive in … My goal today is to cover the first 2 chapters.
Leviticus actually starts with the word “AND”
The Lexham English Septuagint Chapter 1
And the Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of testimony, saying,
This was a stationary book tied to Exodus and the rest of the Torah
God wanted a kingdom of Priests. If everyone obeyed God, this book wouldn’t exist. God wanted EVERYONE to come up the MT but the people were scared of God. This book is a list of rules because people missed the heart of God.
The 10 in the 2
Its like kids wanting to touch the stove. That shouldn’t be a rule! But it has to be because kids are dumb and don’t listen.
Likewise the Children of Isreal wouldn’t listen to God so he had to make a bunch of little rules to keep them in line to protect them.
The people din’t want to come up the MT so God came down the MT. So He had the people make Him a Tabernacle.
But it wasn’t just anything! It was a specific, detailed Tabernacle because God is Holy. It had to be done right.
Chiastic Chart
Types of Offerings
Leviticus 1 (ESV)
1 The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.
Why does God hate animals so much? He doesn’t. This was their currency and their food. It was something that cost them.
3 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.
Males were not as needed as females. God cares.
Without blemish - Back to Cain and Able’s offerings. It was YOUR BEST. This aspect of God has not changed today.
God wants your best time, resources, money, talents - That is the same.
ACCEPTED. This is important. You can’t just do what you want and think God will accept it and honor it. You have to do it God’s way or it may not be accepted.
4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement (כָּפַר) for him.
He had to lay his hands on the offering because he had to own it. The person needed to recognize that this was happening because of them. You have to own your sin and recognize that it is not free. It costs something
Atonement is used 50 times in Leviticus. The Hebrew word is kâphar (כָּפַר), which means to cover.
8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
Atonement doesn’t mean that it’s gone but that God isn’t going to look at it.
Once you understand that sin costs blood, that there is a sacrifice, God is willing to pull His intentional forgetfulness over that sin and now no longer hold you accountable for that sin.
5 Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
There had to be a bull, there had to be something, because you cannot pay for sin by yourself. There had to be something outside of yourself to pay what you cannot pay.
Then Aaron’s sons would be covered in blood and would throw it against the side of the altar. It is this picture of this gross disgusting mess. This is what sin is. This is what sin does. It’s not a simple mistake. It cost blood. It costs life.
Sin costs. It might not cost you something because of Jesus but it cost Him something.
6 Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, 7 and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 And Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; 9 but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
This phrase is the key to these first sacrifices. If someone repeats themselves 3 times in a conversation you know what they’re talking about.
Refer back to CHART
10 “If his gift for a burnt offering is from the flock, from the sheep or goats, he shall bring a male without blemish, 11 and he shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar.
The northside — it is believe that Jesus was killed on the northside of Jerusalem. Type and shadow.
12 And he shall cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire on the altar,
What’s the big deal with the fat?
Most think 2 reasons — (1) because its the good part! It’s the best. (2) it might have been used in pagan practices and God is teaching them the right way to think about things. You are not going to act the same way you did when you were in bondage. Get rid of those practices and burn them completely. You cannot have ANY of it.
13 but the entrails and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
14 “If his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or pigeons.
If you were poor and couldn’t afford a big animal, you could sacrifice a bird. It’s amazing. No one is allowed to show up empty handed. It costs everyone something!
15 And the priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head and burn it on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. 16 He shall remove its crop with its contents and cast it beside the altar on the east side, in the place for ashes. 17 He shall tear it open by its wings, but shall not sever it completely. And the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
God likes the way this smells. God feels things and likes things and has preferences.
What is the picture of Christ in this chapter?
Chart
Complete surrender. The offering must be COMPLETELY and TOTALLY burned up. No one got to eat these. Some of the offerings the Priests got to share with God. Not these. Every piece of this was for God.
You burn it and then you burn it some more until there is nothing left of it. You don’t get to keep the horns from the bull and mount them in your den. You don’t get to take the ribeyes out. You don’t get to take the skin to make clothes from. It is all God’s.
Why? Because God is commending an idea that is still true today. Complete and total surrender.
Jesus did not only surrender his mind to God. He didn’t surrender only his emotions to God. But was so totally and completely surrender to His Father that He was willing to die - and die on the cross! Everything
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
This sounds like it is straight out of Leviticus.
Christ loved you and got on the altar so that you wouldn’t have to. And it was a fragrant smell - and pleasing aroma to God.
15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
NOW - You are that pleasing aroma to God! It’s not a sacrifice of bulls and birds - but of praise!
NOW - We come with confidence into the Presence of God - not to treat Him as Santa - but with the same fear and respect as the Son’s of Aaron did to STILL give God our sacrifices — but praise Christ the work has been finished that we don’t have to offer animals, we don’t have to offer our blood - because the blood of Jesus has been offered on our behalf
NOW - we come with praise and thanksgiving and EVERY PART OF OUR LIFE to be a LIVING SACRIFICE!
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
TOTAL LIVING SURRENDER
Chapters 1-5 go over these 5 offerings and then chapters 6 and 7 go over certain parts of these sacrifices again.
8 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen undergarment on his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar. 11 Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 12 The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13 Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.
This offering of TOTAL SURRENDER IS SOMETHING THAT NEVER STOPS.
This fire is continual. Your surrender to Christ is continual.
Every day. Every night. All day. All night.
It shall not go out!
Leviticus 2 (ESV)
1 “When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it 2 and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 3 But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the Lord’s food offerings.
This phrase is like the pleasing aroma in Chapter 1.
4 “When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers smeared with oil.
It was unleavened just like God commanded in the Passover …
5 And if your offering is a grain offering baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mixed with oil. 6 You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. 7 And if your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8 And you shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the Lord, and when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar.
9 And the priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 10 But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the Lord’s food offerings.
11 “No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the Lord.
Honey might have been used in pagan practices that they encountered in Egypt.
It only took 40 days to get the Israelites out of Egypt but 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites
12 As an offering of firstfruits you may bring them to the Lord, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma. 13 You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.
God is illustration something so important here … When you are making something for God you make it the best it can be!
And instead of just burning it on the altar, give it to the Priests.
God is sayign that “I want the things that the people have that work for me to be good.”
God wants you to give your best! You would salt your food at home so why wouldn’t you salt your food to God?
Don’t bring the priest’s your old, moldy wonder bread. Cook it and salt it like you would at home.
You cook things to your preferences before you eat it. Give God the same! Give God the best!
14 “If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits fresh ears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain. 15 And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. 16 And the priest shall burn as its memorial portion some of the crushed grain and some of the oil with all of its frankincense; it is a food offering to the Lord.
Chart
Humble servant — You give God what you would want. He and His church don’t get our leftovers but the best.