365 Reflections

Leviticus 11:46–47 (ESV)   This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, 47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten. As is mentioned in the previous post, the laws of distinction for Israel's diet was instructive in nature to remind them of their special status before God, not necessarily a code for proper health.  Israel was to be a people of distinction among the nations. They are in history as well. Today the are still distinct in that most of the world is divided about their status as a sovereign nation. To this day God's electing choice of Israel has split the world in half.  Now when Christ comes these distinctions of diet are no longer in effect. The passage where we first realize this comes from the Gospel of Mark... Mark 7:14–23 (ESV) And he called the p

Leviticus 11 is not scintillating reading. It is the division of clean and unclean animals, birds and insects. It does not grab your interest and it has been used to defend rejection of the Bible's standards on other moral issues such as homosexuality. Sometimes we may wonder why God put Leviticus 11 in the Bible. It's there for a very important reason. To be sure, all that God created was good in Genesis 1 and 2. He did not create "unclean" animals and after the resurrection of Jesus all animals are considered clean once again (see Acts 10). But for Israel, in their formative years as the people of God, there were to be distinctions for what they could and could not touch or eat. These are the laws of the clean and unclean. Now our modern sensibilities get twisted in a knot because God has the audacity to dole out these commands for Israel without explanation. Why not eat the pig? It's delicious! Why avoid shellfish? Isn't lobster a wonderful delicacy?

An odd exchange occurs between Moses and Aaron right after Nadab and Abihu are put to death for their strange fire. Leviticus 10:16–20 (ESV) Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, 17 “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD? 18 Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.” 19 And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the LORD have approved?” 20 And when Moses heard that, he approved. Moses knows the la

Leviticus 10:1–2 (ESV)   Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord , which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord . The Bible has these moments we recoil at. This is one of them. I can think of the Acts 5 moment with Ananias and Saphira and the Uzzah moment in 2 Samuel 6. God strikes down dead someone because of actions that we would normally not consider worthy of instant death. All three of these incidents happen when God has shown up powerfully among His people. The important word in this chapter is the first one: "Now." The connection from what comes in Leviticus 10 to what came before in Leviticus 9 illuminates the event. God's glory has come down. Fire from heaven consumes the burnt offering. It's a glorious sight and the people respond in worship. AT THAT TIME these two bo

Hebrews 10:12–14 (ESV) But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Those words are never more wonderful than when you read Leviticus 8-9 and see what was required of the Levitical priesthood in order for the glory of the Lord to appear under the Old Covenant. After 7 days of preparation with cleansing, clothing, offerings and anointing, Aaron is now to prepare the people for the presence of God in Leviticus 9. Leviticus 9:1–4 (ESV) On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 2 and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. 3 And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a

Leviticus 8 is the ordination ceremony for the High Priesthood of Israel. The order is important for us to see how it applies as the Priesthood of believers. First, Aaron and his sons are called before the congregation: Leviticus 8:3 (ESV) And assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” Second, they are cleansed from their outer filth Leviticus 8:6 (ESV) And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. Third, they are clothed in the garments made by the determination of God: Leviticus 8:7 (ESV) And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band. Fourth, they are anointed : Leviticus 8:12 (ESV) And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him. Fifth, they are atoned for: Leviticus 8:14 (ESV) Then he brought the

Leviticus 6:9 (ESV) “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. Leviticus 6:25 (ESV)  “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD; it is most holy. Leviticus 7:1 (ESV) “This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy. Leviticus 7:11 (ESV) “And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the LORD. Leviticus 7:29 (ESV) “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the LORD shall bring his offering to the LORD from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. Leviticus 7 has to be one of the most challenging portions of Scripture. How do these ancient laws regarding sacrificial procedures apply to u

When Jesus tells us to eat His flesh and drink His blood we are of course aware today that He is speaking of communion. However, He is talking of something far deeper than that according to the book of Leviticus: Leviticus 6:14–18  (ESV)   “And this is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord in front of the altar. 15 And one shall take from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering and its oil and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering and burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a pleasing aroma to the Lord . 16 And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten unleavened in a holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it. 17 It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my food offerings. It is a thing most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 18 Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it, as decreed forever throughout you

Leviticus 6:8–9 (ESV)   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....  Leviticus 6:13 (ESV)  Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out. The fire on the burnt offering was to never go out. That is a lot of responsibility for the priests. I have a stove in my house that requires constant attention in winter. Yet even on my best days, it eventually goes out. God mentions several times that this fire was to never die. What does this point to in our relationship with Christ? First, we must remember that it was the priests responsibility to keep the fire going. This was not the job of an average Israelite. God says, "Command Aaron and his sons!" However, as we will observe in Israel, eventually the priests would fail in this responsi

Next we come to the guilt offering. God is speaking to His people. He knows how deep sin runs in our lives (thus the sin offerings) and He also knows how much we bear guilt in our hearts. So for that reason, He institutes an offering specific to that issue of our heart. Leviticus 5:14–16 (ESV)   The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord , he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. 16 He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven. Notice the descriptive term: " commits a breach of faith". Why do we have guilt? Because we know we have gone beyond our boun

We come now to the laws about sin offerings in Leviticus. This is the portion we like to skim through but we'd miss out on some important realities about sin that God is revealing. Leviticus 4:1–3 (ESV) And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the Lord ’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them, 3 if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering. The first sin offering dealt with is that which is made for "unintentional" sins - sins you do not realize you've committed. Leviticus 4 runs down the offerings for the people in order of importance beginning with the "anointed priest" (verse 3), down to the "common person" (verse 27). Though each offering reduces in value from the anointed priest

Leviticus 3:1 (ESV)   “If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord . Leviticus 3:11 (ESV)  And the priest shall burn it on the altar as a food offering to the LORD. The peace offering in Israel was distinct from sin offerings in that the worshipper could bring either a male or female animal AND this offering became food for the worshipper. It was a symbol of God's desire to dwell among and eat with His people. In the ancient world, meals were symbols of peace between previously warring factions. This sacrifice then was to remind Israel that the hostility between themselves and God had been removed through the death of an animal. In the New Testament, this powerful reality is fulfilled in the death of Jesus. He becomes for us food and drink Himself through His death. We now have peace with God because of the sacrifice of His Son. Romans 5:1–2 (ESV)  Therefore,