Which OT Laws Apply Today?

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Today we kick off a new series on the most EXCITING book in the entire Bible: the book of Leviticus...

Surely that’s a fan favorite around here...right?

Anybody have a cool Leviticus tattoo? That would be ironic because Leviticus actually outlaws tattoos for ancient Israel...Not for us, but We will get into that.

Find someone in audience

Wearing crazy clothes

Bald

I think a cool tattoo would be of Leviticus 19:19 “You shall not wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.”

Tattoo would say: These clothes are 60% cotton, 40% rebellion.

Your shirt looks like it’s closer to 80% rebellion

Another idea I had: Leviticus 13:40 says, “If a man’s hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean.”

Tattoo Idea: “Bald and Blessed. Levitically Verified.”

You know what I’m talking about, right (pick someone)?

Overview of Leviticus

We will be talking about:

What is Leviticus and where did it come from?

What was the original purpose of this book?

How does it apply to Christians in 2025?

Main Idea:

All the Law is fulfilled by Christ;

He is hidden everywhere in Leviticus;

His presence in our life helps empower us to obey the Moral Laws.

Who wrote Leviticus? Moses

Genesis: Birth story of the world and God’s covenant to a people that He will one day save all of humanity.

Exodus: God pulls an Ocean’s Eleven and breaks His people out of bondage and slavery in Egypt.

Leviticus: written one month after the finished construction of the first tabernacle.

What is Leviticus and Why was it written?

A book of laws that showed God’s people (Israelites) how to become ritually clean - allowing them to enter the tabernacle and engage with YAHWEH.

The tabernacle (place where mankind could commune with God) was complete, but no-one could enter due to being unclean.

God is HOLY HOLY HOLY. Good Better BEST.

We are filthy. Mankind needed a way to become clean before the Lord and enter into His presence.

Thus, we have Leviticus

Do Modern Day Christians need to pay attention to Leviticus?

It’s the number one stopper of Bible Studies

I am guilty of skipping this book

It’s boring

It’s confusing

It’s weird

It seems incredibly unfamiliar in 2025.

But Leviticus holds so many hidden references to Jesus, it is beyond incredible.

Leviticus proves that our Bible and the OT in particular could ONLY have been written by a divine author: penned through the inspiration, NOT OF GREAT MEN, but of a GREAT and ALL POWERFUL God.

Leviticus is very important for modern day Christians and should not be ignored. It reveals that Jesus has been hardwired into the scriptures and truly is our Messiah and King.

I am so excited to preach on Leviticus as a whole today.

When I was preparing this message, the Lord seemed to perpetually lead me from one passage to the next, connecting the dots again and again.

I could not help myself but fill this sermon with so much scripture, I quickly started to understand what God wanted to do with Upwards Jarrell today: He wanted me to keep my stories and experiences to a minimum and let Him speak directly through his Holy Word.

Let me tell you, that takes ALOT of stress off of my shoulders.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

ALL Scripture. Leviticus included.

So without further adieu, let’s dive into the text:

Leviticus 18:3–4 NIV

3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. 4 You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God.

Context of Leviticus: Israelites are about to go into a land of Pagans and God wants them to be set apart, different, holy.

So in the OT, Got declares the importance of knowing and following His laws. You Must obey my laws...

Leviticus 19:2 “You shall be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.”

And in the NT, Jesus declares:

Matthew 5:17 NIV

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

So the Law is important...but it has been FULFILLED in Christ. That is our first point this morning:

1. The law is fulfilled in Christ

What does it mean that the law is fulfilled in Christ?

Romans 10:4 ESV

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Translation: Christ did what the law required, simultaneously ending our contract under the law, and enrolling His followers in the new covenant, the Law of Christ.

Before we get into the Law of Christ, let’s get into structure of the laws in Leviticus:

The 3 Types of Laws in Leviticus - 613 Laws

1. Ceremonial – pertaining to the sacrificial system and temple worship.

Examples

Rites of Atonement: Animal Sacrifice

Temple Construction and Policy

Tattoos

How to deal with dead people, bodily fluids, types of clothing...many more

2. Civil – pertaining to Israel’s Government.

The Hebrews had just come together after generations of abusive slavery. They needed a system of rules to guide them.

These laws were intended to set the Hebrews apart from the rest of the world.

3. Moral – timeless laws that we continue to follow.

Ten Commandments

Jesus affirms that we are still bound to these laws

“Have you not read...”

Jesus makes it clear that the scriptures are infallible and breathed by God.

Jesus would often get into verbal sparing sessions with religious leaders and would answer their questions (attempts to trap him) with these words: “Have you not read...”

He’s saying, “you should already know the answer if you consider yourself a follower and scholar of the scriptures.

Matthew 5:21–22 ESV

21 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not murder...22But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment... and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Matthew 5:27–28 ESV

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Christ was born a Jew and fulfilled Ceremonial Laws by practicing them His entire life - We don’t need to

Governments carry out and legislate Civil laws and Jesus was under such laws all His life - This was unique to the nation of Israel: Jews, not for Gentiles (most of us)

Moral laws such as the Ten Commandments are reinforced in the New Testament by Jesus - He makes it clear that we are still under these laws

2. The law should lead us to Christ

Galatians 3:24 NIV

24 So the law was put in charge to Lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

Jesus is hidden in every law:

Chapter 16 tells us what the Israelites were to do on the Day of Atonement: Yom Kippur

2 Goats were brought before the High Priest

He would sacrifice one goat as an atonement for all the sins of Israel.

For the second goat:

Leviticus 16:21–22 ESV

21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness...22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

This goat became knows as the ‘scape goat’

Jesus takes the role of both goats:

physical death and spilling of blood

Taking of sins to far places

2. Clean/Pure Foods

These laws were intended to keep Israel separate from the pagans. No mixing.

The Law informs us that we must be pure, without stain of sin if we want to commune with God. Jesus makes us pure in God’s eyes.

We no longer need to worry about eating clean or unclean, pure or impure foods: The blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ makes us pure.

Matthew 15:11 ESV

11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

Jesus makes unclean things, CLEAN.

Acts 10 tells us a story about Peter, friend and disciple of Christ, experiencing a vision where a great sheet descended upon Earth from heaven, and striding down the sheet, like one like wheelchair ramp from the clouds, were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.

And a voice came to Peter saying, “Rise, kill and eat.”

and then in Mark 7 we hear Jesus say this:

Mark 7:15–19 ESV

15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 18 ... Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

Paul reveals to us in Romans that nothing is really ‘unclean’ unless you believe it is:

Romans 14:14–17 ESV

14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Simply put: we are free to eat or not eat any food we want, but don’t do it if it will cause someone grief

Be respectful

Christ died for that person

Jesus’ last command/Law was to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them. You lose the opportunity to win someone over to Christ if you make them angry by disrespecting their views on food laws.

1 Corinthians 9:20–22 ESV

20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law...that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law ...that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

And then in Colossians Paul says:

Colossians 2:16–17 ESV

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

In some of the weirder laws, Jesus is harder to find but He is still there:

3. The priests were to keep 12 loaves of bread on a golden table before the Lord, in perpetuity: always cycling new loaves onto the table

Jesus was born in Bethlehem: Hebrew: House of Bread

Jesus reminds us in John 6 that He is the bread of life, and those who come to Him will never go hungry

4. Laws for Cleansing Lepers

Super weird and specific

Involves 2 birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, hyssop, and oil.

One bird is killed over a bowl of water, the second is dipped into the blood and water and then sprinkled onto the leper; and then released into the wild

This represents the death and resurrection of Jesus, carrying our sins away from from us with blood

The leper then has to cut all the hair from his body, eyebrows included and bathe to become clean.

This represents the rebirth we experience when coming to Christ. A sort of baptism. Paul says in the NT that we are ‘born again’.

Then a lamb is slaughtered, and blood and oil are applied to either ear of the leper.

Remember, the scriptures use imagery of oil to represent the Holy Spirit.

In order to be anointed with oil on your right ear, the leper must first be anointed with blood on his left ear.

In order to receive the Holy Spirit, you must first be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ

On and on and on these examples go.

But not only is Jesus hidden in every law...

Jesus is hidden in the very framework of the word structure.

Genesis & Exodus

In the beginning… - Bereshit | Tav

Every 50 letters from that Tav spells TORAH

Numbers & Deuteronomy

Every 50 letters spells TORAH backwards.

Leviticus

Every 7 letters spells YHWH (yud hay vav hay)

Genesis

In the beginning… - Bereshit | Yud

Every 521 letters spells YESHUA YAKOV: Jesus is Able

Need I remind you that the drama in opening scene of Genesis is concluded with a prophecy that points to someone who will be able to defeat the snake: The reader is left with the question: Who is going to come and defeat the snake & sin? Yeshua Yakov: Jesus is Able

And in Leviticus, we see this passage:

Leviticus 21:10 NIV

10 “ ‘And the high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head...

And the high priest… | Heh

Every 3rd letter reveals HAIN DAM YESHUA: Behold the blood of Jesus.

Who is our High Priest? Jesus

The author of Hebrews says:

Hebrews 4:14 ESV

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God...

What was his head anointed with? His blood. Remember the crown? Behold the blood of Jesus.

Listen to this prophetic description of Jesus from Isaiah:

Isaiah 53:8–10 ESV

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Who is this man that Isaiah is describing?

He shall prolong v10. | Yud

Backwards every 20th letter: Jesus is my name

3. The law is lived by the power of Christ

Romans 8:2–4 NIV

2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit ... has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The Law was powerless to save. In fact, Paul said in Romans 7 that if it had not been for the law, he would not have known sin! I would not have known what is is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” It showed him that he was totally incapable of keeping it.

God sent His son to be everything the Law required, so that when we fail (we being every soul that is included in the word HUMANITY) we could lean on Jesus to cover our conviction under the Law.

We don’t want Justice. We want Grace.

When I was in highschool, my football coach (Coach Swann) asked me a question that has stuck with me ever since: What is the purpose of life? Why are we here?

I responded with a long diatribe about using the gifts God has given us to honor Him and our duty as Christians to spread the Gospel to all people in all places.

We are to cast off our sinful ways and seek to be Holy, separated from the world as a bride of Christ.

I asked Coach Swann what he thought the purpose of life was, and his answer was very simple: Love God, Love People.

When Jesus was asked a very similar question....

Matthew 22:37–40 NIV

37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

All the law = Pentateuch

Prophets = Words of the greater and lesser prophets

Jesus is saying that EVERY law and every word spoken by the prophets can be followed by simply Loving God and Loving People.

Galatians 5:14 ESV

14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Communion - Love God so we can Love People

Prayer