Reflections from March 7, 2011

We begin Leviticus today, which is sometimes called The Holiness Code. The book of Leviticus spells out God's instructions for how the Israelites related to a holy God. It's summed up in God's admonishing, You shall be holy, for I am holy." While there is a lot of detail in this book, and it can sometimes be burdensome to read, it's a good reminder of the heavy penalty that sin brings about. It culminated with God offering His Son Jesus as a sacrifice on our behalf. So as we read through Leviticus, we must stop and thank God and remind ourselves that God still expects us to be Holy for He is Holy.

In Leviticus 1:1-2 we read,
"The Lord called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, "When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock -- of the hear and of the flock."'"

Sin was a serious issue with God, and it needs to be with us as well. Leviticus shows the impact it had on the Israelites in terms of psychological, financial social and spiritual. These impacts made it difficult to regard sin lightly, and we know that God doesn't as He offered Jesus as our sacrifice of atonement.

Leviticus 2:14 shows us that the best is used by stating "offering of your firstfruits to the Lord". God wants and deserves no less than the best of the best, and the first of anything.

God instilled the concept of the atonement of blood and its importance by telling the Israelites in Leviticus 3:17,
"This shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings; you shall eat neither fat nor blood."
The fat and blood belong to God; plus He helped them stay healthy due to parasites in these parts. But the blood in particular was being intended to preserve their reverence for the Messiah, who was to shed His blood as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.

But that atonement would have to wait, and we read just this in Psalm 27:14,
"Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord."

Blessings to all