Leviticus: A Covenant of Holiness

Covenants

Over the course of my life, I have entered into three different covenants - as least as far as I can remember. We mentioned this in one of the sermons recently, but I think it’s helpful for us to consider something about covenants again.

Taylor University’s Life Together Covenant: as a student at Taylor university - I entered into a “Life Together Covenant.” Generally speaking, as a part of this covenant, I agreed to live in a loving and respectful way with the campus community, attend a local church, and live a life that is consistent with biblical values and expectations. Part of that covenant included abiding by the school’s expectation that I not take illegal substances, drink alcohol, gamble, or smoke - on or off campus. The covenant only lasted as long as I was a student at the school.

The second covenant that I entered was a...

Marriage Covenant: During our senior year of college, Danielle and I entered into a marriage covenant - committing to be husband and wife for life. As a means of refreshing that covenant and renewing our commitment, we attended a Weekend to Remember with FamilyLife where we agreed to a Oneness Covenant - a sort of renewal of wedding vows, with a unique bent toward the individual roles that we play as husband and wife. The Oneness covenant essentially stated:

In the presence of God and these witnesses…and by a holy covenant, … I, Joel, joyfully receive you, Danielle,… as God’s perfect gift for me,… to have and to hold… from this day forward…, for better or for worse…, for richer or for poorer…, in sickness and in health…, to love you…, to honor you… to cherish you…, and to protect you…, forsaking all others…, as long as we both shall live. (source: Family Life).

The final covenant is the...

PBC Pastoral/Membership Covenant: Most recently, I entered into a covenant with you as your pastor, but also as a member of this church. In the covenant, we made some commitments to each other - to pray, support, encourage, participate and more. Some people wonder why we even have a membership covenant - why can’t we just show up? What does church membership do? Any organization that we would join has standards and expectations. Membership in a church does the same, but it does so much more. You see, as a church, PBC is a representation or an iteration of the body of Christ. Each of us are members of one another. Our gifts and talents complement each other. Our weaknesses and strengths off-set each other. Because we are a congregational church - we the body, the members of the congregation, get to have a voice in what happens - which is why we have family or membership meetings each quarter. As a church, we believe that membership matters - and so we enter into a covenant with one another.

There are several things that are common elements to covenants. Covenants are...

Built on a foundation of love: For those of us who have grown up here in the US or in Europe we often think of agreements in terms of a contract. We might enter into a contract for a time or for a transaction. Conversely, I think covenants are established out of love rather than legalism or obligation. People who enter into a covenant together are communicating “out of love for you I will act this way.” When we see covenants in the Bible, I think this foundation of love gets more to the heart of what a covenant entails. In addition to that...

Covenants establish a mutual identification ( may need a better word) - as a student at Taylor my actions in accordance with the Life Together Covenant identified me as a member of that school community as opposed to other schools. You’re probably familiar with the reputation that some schools have as being academically strong, an athletic powerhouse or even a party school. Taylor University wanted to make sure that the students, staff, faculty and administration covenanted together in order to clearly identify with each other as members of that community and distinct from other colleges. Danielle’s and my marriage covenant identified us as a couple, as one flesh according to the biblical standard. Our covenant together as a church distinguishes us from other churches (sure the Methodists, Episcopals, Presbyterians, and even other baptist churches have some sort of membership as well - our covenant sets us apart as members of this body, members of one another. Not better or worse than others, but distinct. Finally (and there could be many other things),...

Covenants establish or imply consequences- there is disciplinary action that coincides with a breach of the covenant. If I broke Life Together covenant at Taylor - I could have been disciplined - even up to the point of expulsion (though probably not on the first offense). In our marriage, if I break my covenant with Danielle, not only would I deeply hurt her, but I would have to answer to God for it, and could end up tearing our family apart. As covenant members of this church, if I were to breach the covenant with you, what would begin with a loving confrontation with the elders could result in expulsion from this body if I were to remain unrepentant. Covenants clarify consequences.

I mention these things because I want to make sure that we understand a bit of what is happening when God enters into covenants with His people. Last week, we looked at the book of Exodus and what God did to bring his people out of Egypt. As God and the people of Israel enter into a covenant together - we get to see all of these attributes. Out of love for the Israelites, God brought them out of Egypt. As we’ll see a bit more today, their actions will uniquely set the Israelites apart from the people around them. This covenant has consequences. We got to see it a bit last week and we’ll understand it a bit more today. Sometimes, as we read through the Old Testament, it’s easy for people to get the idea that God is mad all the time. Much of the OT is made up of the discipline that He is pouring out or promising - but we also have to remember that the Israelites were rebellious time and time again.

Let’s take one more step back. We began this whole series on God’s story in Scripture by considering the 7Cs of History: Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, and Consummation

The first four Cs happened in the first several chapters of Genesis and lay the foundation for the rest of scripture. Most of the Old Testament happens between Confusion (of the languages) and Christ. During that time God did several other things, that we are walking through right now.

Call - God called Abraham, Jacob, Moses and others

Covenant - God entered into several covenants

Abraham - promising to give him land, to bless him and to make him a great nation

Israel - we are in the midst of a part of scripture where God is covenanting with the people of Israel - promising to bring them to the land He promised to Abraham and more (which we will get into a bit)

Consecration - during this time at Mount Sinai - God is consecrating or setting his people apart from the rest of the nations around them. Some of what we saw last week as we studied Exodus was the beginnings of that consecration as God gave them the 10 commandments and the book of the covenant.

So - let’s just review briefly the 7Cs, adding these additional 3 Cs.

Creation

Corruption

Catastrophe

Confusion

Calling - hand to ear like a phone

Covenant - hand over heart

Consecration - washing hands

Christ

Cross

Consummation

Today, we’re going to venture into the next book of the Old Testament, of the Pentateuch or Torah - the book of Leviticus. This book contains a lot of detailed information regarding religious and moral laws. It appropriately picks up where Exodus left off - now that the tabernacle is constructed - the people need to understand how to use it and who should facilitate worship in that place.

Let’s look briefly at this video from the Bible Project as I think it accurately and clearly depicts the structure and message of Leviticus:

https://youtu.be/IJ-FekWUZzE

(approx. time: 8:17)

If you’re not familiar with the folks at the Bible Project - let me encourage you to check them out from time to time - as you’re doing your own quiet time or leading family devotions or even just curious about things in scripture. Their short videos are a helpful summary of whole books and small sections of the Bible.

Now that we are on the same page as to the content and the message of Leviticus and we have a framework for covenant to draw from, let’s consider a few practical considerations.

First of all,...

God wants his priests to be distinct

In many ways, this should go without saying but pastors, elders, Bible teachers - should be distinct from the rest of the world. While we are generally made up of a kingdom of priests - which in one sense implicates all of us, but in another sense still may apply to pastors and elders. You should expect your pastors and elders to live lives that are marked by a distinctness or a holiness. We will not perfect but different. You should see this in how we spend our time, treat our families, steward our resources, commune with God, etc.

In Exodus, there was a great deal of detail that went into the design of the priestly garments - while we didn’t talk about it specifically, there was a lot of symbolism wrapped up in what the priests would wear. In Leviticus, there are two chapters dedicated to the consecration and ordination of Aaron and his sons. Because they played an intermediary role between God and the people, it was important for them to be holy. In chapter 10 of Leviticus, we get to see how two of Aarons sons disregard the sacredness of what they were called to and profaned God. They lost their lives in result.

Pastors and Elders don’t play an intermediary role today, but we should live as examples.

God wants his people to be distinct

A large chunk of the book of Leviticus is dedicated to how people should live and what they should eat. It discussed how we should treat each other and in various issues of morality. It’s really quite clear when it comes to this - God’s expectation is that intimate relationships should be reserved for a man and woman who are married - anything outside of that is sin.

God also laid out some very clear dietary laws and delineated consequences for what should happen if someone would break these practical elements of the covenant.

One of the arguments that God gives is that the actions that he is forbidding or banning are actions that were common among the nations that were before them. (Lev. 18:24-25)

English Standard Version Chapter 18

“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.

Several times he adds the argument about who he is: (Lev. 18:30)

English Standard Version Chapter 18

So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”

Moving forward to today, as God’s people, our covenant with Him through Jesus Christ should impact every aspect of our lives. Being people of God should impact more than just our Sunday schedule. People should see it in our morality. They should see it in how would treat other people. They should see it in how we talk. We’ll touch on some of the sticking points of the book in just a moment, but the bottom line is that your relationship with God and my relationship with God should be seen in how we live.

Let me give you an example of this. A friend of mine works for the Social Security Administration. He manages a very busy office and feels the constant pressure to keep his office performing at the highest levels of efficiency - even amidst a culture of frequent turnover.

A few weeks ago - it was discovered that one of his employees, a newer member of the team had a persistent and ongoing alcohol problem. One day, this employee had consumed too alcohol during the day. He went down to the garage and passed out in his car in the garage. Something happened and the alarm began going off, but he was locked inside and passed out. Someone alerted the office but also called the security. My friend went to this employee’s desk and found his keys, turned off the alarm and sent the police away telling them that this was his employee and that he would handle it. He then drove this employee - still passed out, to a local hotel and put him up for a night, at his own expense.

When the employee sobered up and came to the office the next day - he was puzzled why my friend would have done that. He could have easily had him arrested and fired, but instead he showed him this kindness. My friend said that he felt like it was something God wanted him to do - thinking about the parable of the good samaritan. My friend is allowing his faith to impact his life - and is continuing to pour into this employee - seeking to help him find healing from his addiction and success in the office.

When people see our lives, could they accuse us of being at least different or distinct from the world around us? Could they convict us of being God’s people by our actions? I hope so. I hope they can see it in me.

There is a third practical element of Leviticus that we need to consider...

Our Sin requires sacrifice

As you read through the book of Leviticus, you’ll find that there are a variety of regulations and rules that surrounded worship involving sacrifice.

Some sacrifice was in gratitude (Longman) - these were given in thanks to something that God did in their lives. Whether animals or grain - this was an act of love.

Some sacrifice was in fellowship (Ibid) - this also could include the sacrifice of animals or grain/bread - but this looked more at the interaction between God and His people.

These two sacrifices are quite similar to sacrifices that we might make as we give us our tithes (the first 10% of our income) and offerings - something over the top. We give this gifts to God with glad hearts as a way of giving thanks and worshipping God.

In addition to these two types of sacrifices, there were several others that dealt with...

Sin. Whether this was in atonement (kippur) - restoring the broken covenant, or in some other type of restitution for breaking God’s laws - these sacrifices brought people to the reality of their sin.

Jesus fulfills the requirements of the law by being the one priest and person who is perfectly distinct. He is also the one perfect sacrifice who can bring us into right fellowship with God. While we don’t have to take the blood of animals as a means of atoning for our sin - we do have the blood of Jesus Christ that brought us atonement - once and for all. If you’ve been here any amount of time, you’ve probably heard some aspect of that nearly every week. It may be easy to just hear that and begin to tune out - let me encourage you not to miss that.

Your sin - my sin - required a sacrifice. The bible says that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb. 9:22). Our sins has a cost to it. We like to think that it’s a small mistake or a one-time incident - and not that bad - but when compared to the holiness and perfection of God (our ultimate standard), we fall short, we miss the mark.

Rather than you and I having to go each week or even each day to a temple or tabernacle to offer a goat or a lamb or a bull or some other animal in exchange for our sin - God offered his one and only son. Jesus lived a perfect life - meeting God’s standard, and died a sacrificial death, and then rose from the grave - conquering once and for all the power of sin and the eternal consequences (remember covenants have consequences and the consequence of sin is death) - so that those who would believe on Him could have forgiveness and life.

John 1:12–13 ESV

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

In spite of your sin and my sin, God loves you and I believe he wants a relationship with you - but it requires that you admit your sin, repenting of it, and believe that you are forgiven because of Jesus Christ.

If you’ve never received Jesus Christ as your saviour - maybe today is the day that you do that. It would be an honor to talk with you after the service or sometime this week if you’d like to respond to God’s call on your life and receive His salvation.

There is one final think that I think we need to consider. If you’ve read through Leviticus, you’ll know that there are a lot of specific and even strange laws - when begs the question...

What do we do with all of these laws?

The laws the regard sacrifices have been fulfilled in Christ. I’m so grateful that we don’t have to do those.

As for the others, should we ignore them?

No, I don’t think so - we need to consider what they were communicating - there are hygiene and purity issues that we naturally apply today. I don’t know that God was mitigating what we’ve come to know as germ theory - but when you consider all of the blood they encountered and the laws that focused on washing and cleanliness, God wanted his people to be different.

When it comes to the dietary laws - they seem to have been adjusted in Christ According to Mark 7:19 - Jesus declared all foods clean. In Acts, Peter has a vision of unclean food that comes from heaven with the command - “kill and eat.” Many have taken this to say that all foods are okay now. A friend of mine from college is a professor of Old Testament in Minnesota. He has said that he considers bacon victory food because now we get to eat this delicious meat that was forbidden for the Israelites.

Then there are moral issues that we need to consider and I think obey. God limited who we could marry (which is generally practiced in most places today). He limited sexual relations to a man and a woman who are married - everything else was forbidden. God gets very explicit in Leviticus regarding these types of relationships.

In addition to the sexual ethics, God talks about how His people to treat other people. He talks about retribution and repaying people for things that we may have stolen or broken. While our civil laws regulate much of that today - I don’t think it would be bad for us to restore/replace what we break or steal - and then some.

Closing Thoughts

Out of love for humanity, God entered into a covenant. This covenant identified the people of Isreal as a people completely different from the nations around them. This covenant came with consequences - but it also came with blessings. The last two chapters of Leviticus deal with the ways that God will prosper his people if they will obey, and how he will discipline them, if they disobey.

My hope is that we will join in and seek to live holy lives.

In the video, the narraters distinguished between the first verse in Leviticus and the first verse in Numbers. In Leviticus, God called to Moses from the tabernacle - because Moses was not fit to enter in. In Numbers, God calls to Moses IN the tabernacle - because now he is able to go in - the way has been made.

If you are a follower of Christ, He has made a way for you to be in fellowship with God - for him to commune with you in prayer and dwell with you by His Spirit. Jesus holiness and perfect sacrifice allow us to enter in. Will you enter in with him today?

Let’s pray:

Benediction: Romans 15:33

Romans 15:33 ESV

May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.