Loving Leviticus - Introduction (Part 1)

Pop quiz Bible students: “People could not live by the Old Testament law because they were sinners and could not obey perfectly.” True or false?

To clarify, let’s say a person is living in the land of Israel during the time of Joshua.  He lies to his neighbor about taking a donkey or whatever.  Does his transgression of the ninth commandment mean that he cannot live according to the law? 

Before you answer, look at Leviticus 6:2-7. 

The answer is (drum roll please) “FALSE.” Successfully living under the Mosaic law did not require a person to be sinless.  God knew that the people would sin and so he made a way of forgiveness, even in the law.

But doesn’t the New Testament talk about the inadequacy of the law?  Lots and lots. The Old Testament law could never establish righteousness (i.e. Gal. 2:21), in the justification sense.  Under that topic, the law's only purpose was to convict of sin (i.e. Rom. 3:20) and teach us that we need Christ (i.e. Gal. 3:24). 

But the Mosaic law was intended to be a code for Israelites to live by.  If they adhered to it – striving to keep its commands and performing the various sacrifices when sin was committed – then God promised them a successful life in the land (Lev. 18:5).  

God told Joshua he had to “observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may go to heaven when you die?”  No no no.  The promised blessing was “that you may prosper wherever you go” (Josh. 1:7) and “you will have good success” (Josh. 1:8).  A successful, prosperous life in the promised land is different that justification.  The former required obedience.  The latter has always only been by faith (i.e. Gen. 15:6). 

So God actually “expected” Israelites to do this stuff.  The word Leviticus automatically reminds us of the Levites” which is fitting since most of the book deals with priestly matters and all the priests were Levites.  I am not a Levitical priest.  Neither are you.  [In my blog on Exodus (read here), I talked about the church’s relationship to Old Testament law.]  But there’s still a lot to learn from this book, especially as we consider the first chapters which talk about sacrifices. 

No one does these sacrifices any more

The rules regarding the sacrifices are incredibly complex and detailed.  They require an official priest with official anointing at an official place in an official manner.  The most obvious thing to draw from the long description of the various sacrifices (burn offering in chapter 1, meal offering in chapter 2, peace offering in chapter 3, sin offering in chapter 4, trespass offering in chapter 5, an appendix of extra instruction in chapter 6 and 7) is that God was very concerned that these sacrifices happened His way.  Chapters 8 through 10 are a brief respite of narrative and tell the story of Aaron and his son’s dedication and the actual beginning of the sacrifices.  But they also serve as a vivid illustration of the disastrous consequences of not doing these sacrifices God’s way.  Nadab and Abihu add their own fire.  The result? “So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord,” (Lev. 10:2).  

sacrifices (woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld
from the 1860 Die Bibel in Bildern)

I remember talking to a Jew who said he still thought he could live under what we call the Old Testament.  I asked him, “have you ever read about the sacrifices?  What do you do with that?”  He responded that they have a service in which they pour out wine which symbolizes the blood. 

Talk about a revision!  Nadab and Abihu only changed God’s design a little bit and the result was instant death.  If these sacrifices are to be done, they must be done exactly as God commanded.  That means Judaism isn’t even a realistic possibility!

Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of these sacrifices

“Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Eph. 5:2).

The Lord Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself at Calvary was the perfect and final sacrifice.  “Now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26).  But we shouldn’t get the idea that the problem with the Old Testament system was that it was laborious and so Jesus came to make things easier. 

We read in Hebrews 10:4 – “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”  None of the millions of animals actually took away sin.  The Lord Jesus was “the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and that includes all of sins from all time (see Rom. 3:25-26).  And that’s why the writer to the Hebrews describes them as “shadows” (Heb. 10:1).  They point to something bigger and more substantial than themselves (I can easily see how some details speak of Christ but others are admittedly difficult).  The Israelites were required to perform these sacrifices in order to be forgiven by God (i.e. Lev. 1:4), but the animals’ blood was not an actual payment for sin.  God took away their sins because He was looking forward to the work of His Son. 

I like just about anything Horatio Bonar ever wrote or said.  But I think of his hymn:

Horatio Bonar (1808-1889)

No blood, no altar now,  

The sacrifice is o'er!

No flame, no smoke ascends on high, 

The lamb is slain no more,

But richer blood has flowed from nobler veins,

To purge the soul from guilt, 

and cleanse the reddest stains. 

We thank Thee for the blood, 

The blood of Christ, God's Son 

The blood by which our peace is made, 

Redemption great is won,

Delivering us from hell, and sin, and woe; 

That needs no second fight and leaves no second foe.

               

God still wants sacrifices

Though it’s impossible to offer the Levitical sacrifices and Jesus Christ was the final and sufficient payment for sin, that doesn’t mean the time of all sacrifices is over.  The writer to the Hebrews says “we have an altar whereof they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle.”  We are to offer our lips (Heb. 13:15), our lucre (Heb. 13:16), and our lives (Rom. 12:1). 

Has worshipped changed from being about us giving
to God to God giving to us?

My mother-in-law posted an article from Christianity Today (read it here) about problems with feel good services.  That’s got me thinking.  The idea that coming together to worship the Lord is fundamentally about how I feel is NOT from the Bible.  The idea behind the feel good worship service is the very antithesis of sacrifice.  Sacrifice is giving up!  In Leviticus we find that worship is about giving, from us to God.  That doesn’t mean that worship isn’t pleasing to God if it isn’t painful (the Lord Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive, so of course there would be joy in giving to God!).  But the point is that worship’s not done for our feelings or our benefit. 

But if we are to give something to God, what does He want most?  What does He delight in?  He told us!  “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  What God desires is to hear about His precious Son.  That means our words, our attitudes, our actions should all remind the Father of Christ. 

Here’s how Peter describes worship: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  Only what is on the precious stone is real worship.  Only what is through Jesus Christ is acceptable to God.