(My BSF Notes)
Last
time we saw how the cloud of God’s glory filled the Tabernacle. Now God is giving laws and instructions to
the priests for offerings that are to be presented to Him since He is holy and
would be living with them. Leviticus is
a handbook for the priests. It contains
many rules they needed to do their work like worshiping God, making sacrifices
and handling everyday problems concerning cleanliness. The theme of Leviticus is holiness. God wants His priests to be holy as He is
holy. Holiness is to be a characteristic
of all God’s people. A key verse in this
study is Lev. 20:26 – “You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I
have set you apart from the nations to be my own.”
Leviticus 1-7 – Holiness through Offerings
There
are 5 types of offerings:
Burnt Offering – The
purpose was to make atonement for sin.
This offering focuses on how the animals were to be handled. The worshiper was to offer a male animal
without defect from the herd or flock or a dove or young pigeon. He was to present the animal at the entrance
of the tent so it would be acceptable, lay his hands on it and it would be
acceptable to make atonement for him.
Then it would be slaughtered before the Lord. Its blood was sprinkled on the altar by the
priests, but into pieces, burned on the fire so the aroma would be pleasing to
the Lord.
Grain
Offering – The purpose of this offering is not explained, but
thought to be an offering of thanksgiving that might be called a gift to the
Lord. It was finely ground flour or
grain that was mixed with oil and incense.
Fellowship
Offering – The purpose was for peace and fellowship with the
Lord. It too was a sin offering and
similar to the burnt offering involving an animal and sprinkling of blood on
the altar.
Sin
Offering – The purpose was to make atonement for sins the worshiper
had committed. It was a bull without
defect, killed, and its blood sprinkled on the altar.
Guilt
Offering – The purpose was to make restitution and atonement for
wrongs committed unintentionally and against the Lord. It was a ram without blemish, killed, blood
sprinkled and restitution of 1/5 of its value.
Anyone
could present an offering. The sacrifice
is to be costly to the worshipper and only the best could be offered. Jesus has fulfilled every part of this law,
and we do not repeat these offerings today.
Salvation is through the Lord Jesus Christ and anyone can come to
Him. Salvation is a free gift for us,
because Jesus paid the full price of our sins.
God still calls us to offer sacrifices to Him – our praise, our gifts, our
service, our worship, our time, etc.
Atonement
means the reconciliation of God and humans brought about by the redemptive life
and death of Jesus. These various
sacrifices are a picture of what Jesus accomplished through His perfect life
and His death on the cross. He was
without blemish or sin, His blood was spilled and spattered, our sins were laid
on Him, and He became the sacrifice for all who believe in Him.
God
dwells in His people today by His Holy Spirit.
We are His Tabernacle made possible by Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself for
the atonement for our sins. Give God
thanks for sending Jesus to be your sacrifice and for sending His Spirit to
live in you to guide and protect you.
Principle: A holy life is characterized by a right
relationship with our holy God.
What does
a relationship with God look like? A relationship with God includes confession,
repentance, worship and spending time with Him.
What do
you need to do to have a relationship with God?
Is
there something in your life your are ashamed of that you cannot talk to God
about?
What
sacrifice have you offered God this week?
Leviticus 11-15 – Holiness through Clean
Living
These
laws in chapters 11-15 do not directly apply to us today, but we can learn from
them.
Another
key verse is Lev. 11:44 – “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy,
because I am holy.”
This is
a list of purification laws for Israel.
I have listed a practical or health or benefit for each.
11:1-17 – Clean and unclean
animals - these were to help them learn to obey God and not please themselves.
12:1-8 – Purification
following childbirth – this allowed a new mother to rest after childbirth.
13:1-46 – Skin diseases – it is
good to quarantine a person to keep others from getting the disease.
13:47-59 – Mildew contamination –
mildew and mold is very unhealthy making you have all kinds of sickness just by
breathing it.
14:1-32 – cleansing skin
diseases –today we take care of skin problem by visiting the doctor for
medication.
14: 33-57 – cleansing from mildew
– today we wash it away; Fema is called when there is critical contamination
for clean up.
15:1-33 – Uncleanness from
bodily discharges – this could be an example of contagious sexual transmitted
diseases.
The New
Testament shows the primary purpose of these laws as not physical health. Mark
7:15-18 – “Nothing outside a man can make him
unclean by going into him. Rather, it is
what comes out of a man that makes him unclean.” The people were learning about God and
themselves from these laws. God wanted
them to be holy just as He is holy. It
also reminded them of how He rescued them from Egypt. (Lev. 11:44-45).
Principle:
A holy life is characterized by inward and outward, public
and private purity.
What
draws you closer to God?
Does
something enter your mind that is not pure?
What do
you need to change to bring purity in your life?
What is
your life reminds you of truths about God?
Leviticus 17-24 – Holiness through Choices
This
section teaches lessons about living a holy life. It contains prohibitions against eating blood,
unlawful sexual relations, various laws and punishments, unacceptable
sacrifices, a new listing of yearly feasts and rules governing oil and bread
used in the tabernacle.
A key
verse here is Lev. 17:11 – “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given
it to you to make atonement for ourselves on the altar; it is the blood that
makes atonement for one’s life.”
The
blood was important part in sacrifice.
The life is in the blood. Blood
is a symbol of life.
God
needed them to live differently. In Lev. 18 God teaches about every kind of
sexual immorality. He considers it
detestable (verses 22,26,29,30), wicked (verse 17), defiling (verse 20), and a
perversion (verse 23). He gave other
reasons for these commands. He said they
should not practice what they use to practice when they were in Egypt. He said they are to be holy and His is
holy. God set them apart from every
other nation and they are not to be like other nations.
Homosexuality
is very relevant today. “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is
detestable.” – Lev. 18:22. This is not the only sin God talks about here
in chapter 18, but is in a large list of sins and sin separates us from God. Why is it wrong? It is wrong, because it is not in God’s plan
just like any other sin is not in His plan.
If you struggle with this or someone you know does, ask God to teach you
why this is wrong. Study His word. We all struggle with some sin and we all fall
short and we all need Jesus.
Sin
brings guilt and requires a punishment.
It separates us from God.
Holiness is our Christian destiny.
One day we will be like Jesus. But
for now, we are to pursue holiness.
Lev. 19:37 says
it all. “Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow
them. I am the Lord.”
What
sin do you need to rid yourself of?
Do you
strive to be holy?
Chapter
21 and 22 gives rules and high standards for Priests. We all need to be praying for our church
leaders.
Principle: A holy life is characterized by intentionally
representing God through holy choices.
Where
in life are you not representing God? Is
it what you read, watch on TV, how you respect the elderly?
Do you
make holy choices?
It is impossible
for us to be completely holy as God is holy.
We are to continue pursuing holiness.
So for now fix your eyes on Jesus and one day we will be like the holy Jesus.
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