Sinners in the presence of a holy God

BIBLE STUDY MINISTRIES Sinners in the presence of a holy God Leviticus May 2014

1. Introduction What do we make of the Law? FOR STARTERS I m not a religious person. I don t go to church or anything. But I do try to live a good life. After all, that s all that really matters, isn t it? What view of Christianity does a comment like this betray? What would this person think Christianity is? Where do you think they get that idea from? 1. THE LAW WHAT WAS IT? When Australians talk about the law, what are they referring to? What is the purpose of Australian law? Read Matthew 5:17 20 What does Jesus mean by the Law (see also Luke 24:44)? Where do we find the Law in our Bibles? How does that fit (or not fit!) with your understanding of what Law is? Read Exodus 24:12 & Deuteronomy 6:4 9 What was the purpose of the laws God gave to Moses? What were the Israelites to do with the Law? How is the ancient Israelite concept of Law different from ours? 2. THE LAW WHAT DID IT TEACH? Read Deuteronomy 4:32 40 & Psalm 119:97 103 What attitude were the Israelites to have towards their Law? List the ways in which the Law could benefit God s ancient people. What did the Law remind Israel concerning their past and teach them concerning their future? Read Exodus 33:18 23 & 34:4 7 What was the biggest issue the Law dealt with? What did the Law teach Israel about God and about their relationship to him?

3. THE LAW THE SACRIFICES Read Exodus 24:3 11 Why were sacrifices so central to God s Law (see also Hebrews 9:19 22)? How did the sacrifices work? Did they achieve anything in themselves? Why/why not (see also Psalm 51:16 17; Hebrews 10:1 4)? Why, then, did righteous Israelites have to continue offering them (see Psalm 51:18 19)? 4. THE LAW, ISRAEL AND JESUS Read Jeremiah 31:31 34 How did Israel fare when it came to keeping the Law (see also Amos 2:4 5)? What solution did God promise? List everything this solution would accomplish. What would God s solution be based on (verse 34)? Look again at Matthew 5:17 20. What did Jesus come to do? What does this mean? How did he accomplish it (see also John 19:30)? 5. THE LAW AND US Read Romans 3:19 31 Righteousness is about being on the right side of God s judgment; it is about gaining his approval and receiving his declaration of innocence. In the Old Testament, it was God s Law that outlined what righteousness should look like in practical terms. However, what does Paul say is the declaration of the Law on each one of us (see also Ecclesiastes 7:20)? If no one can receive God s declaration of righteousness through keeping God s Law, then where can righteousness be found?

Some might say that Paul is talking in this passage about a Plan A and a Plan B: that when God s Plan A failed (righteousness through obeying the Law), he scrapped that plan, and started on a new plan a Plan B (righteousness through faith in Christ). How would you (and Paul!) answer them? What relevance does the Law have for us today? What does it teach us: about ourselves? about Jesus? about how to keep God s Law (see also Romans 1:5)? 1 List all the benefits of righteousness by faith as opposed to righteousness by moral effort. Whenever we Christians sin, we are always tempted to lapse back into moral effort righteousness; we try to soothe our guilt by turning over a new leaf and working a bit harder at being good. What are the dangers of reacting to our sinfulness in that way? How should we respond instead? 1 Note the Holman translation: We have received grace and apostleship through Him to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations, on behalf of His name (emphasis added).

2. Sin s Price Leviticus 1 7 FOR STARTERS Have you ever seen an animal sacrifice? In ancient cultures, people were obviously not as sensitive to questions of animal cruelty as we are today, so try to put aside for a moment your instinctive emotional reaction to the concept of animal sacrifice. What do you think would have been most striking about the sacrificial act? What do you think it would convey about God and your relationship with him? 1. CONTEXT Leviticus sits in the middle of the Torah, or the Old Testament Law. After being rescued from slavery in Egypt, in Exodus 19 Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai, where God began to reveal his Law to them. They remained at the mountain for almost a year, and in terms of the Bible s story, this lasted right through the rest of the book of Exodus, through all of Leviticus, and through the first 10 or so chapters of Numbers. In Numbers 10:11 the cloud of the Lord s presence moved on from Mt. Sinai, and the people followed it, headed for the Promised Land. However, Israel s time at Mt. Sinai was not without incident! Read Exodus 32:1 4 Where was Moses when this happened, and what was he doing? What does this tell us about the Israelites? Read Exodus 32:9 14 What almost happened to Israel? Why? What changed God s mind? Read Exodus 40:34 38 Exodus finishes with the construction of the tabernacle the special tent where God came down to meet with his people (a kind of portable Mt. Sinai). What was God s presence like? What effect did it have? Given what we saw in chapter 32, what is the great tension of the end of Exodus the tension hanging over the beginning of Leviticus? 2. THE SACRIFICES Scan chapters 1 7 of Leviticus and take note of the section headings in your Bibles. 2 How many different kinds of sacrifices can you see mentioned (you will notice they are all mentioned twice)? 2 This is a highly unusual thing I am asking you to do! The section headings in our Bibles are not part of the original text; they were added by the translation committee. As such, they are not God s word, and on occasion they may even be inaccurate. I wouldn t normally recommend using these headings for anything other than helping to find your way around. And when we read the Bible aloud, it is our normal practice not to read these headings, because they are not God s word. For the purposes of this study, they are a shorthand way of getting a feel for a large slab of text. However, nothing beats actually coming face to face with God s words, so I would strongly recommend that you read the whole of chapters 1 7 at home to see how all of this works out in the text itself.

Read Leviticus 1:1 9 & 6:8 13 What are these two passages about? How do they differ from each other? Look again at your Bible headings in chapters 1 7. What do they tell you about the structure of these opening chapters of Leviticus? Look over the table at the end of this study called The Sacrifices. Fill in the blank (shaded) squares, using the verses from Leviticus that are provided. (Share this task around the group.) Take a step back from all the detail for a moment: what range of life situations would have been covered by one or more of the sacrifices? Why did they need to offer so many sacrifices? What was involved in offering a sacrifice? What did all this teach the Israelites about their relationship with God? Look closely at Leviticus 4:13 14, 22 23, 27 28. For what kinds of sins could you offer a sacrifice so as to receive forgiveness? What kinds of sins were beyond the help of sacrifices? (See also Numbers 15:22 31.) 3. THE TRUE SACRIFICE From reading Leviticus, you could get the impression that God had given Israel a sure fire mechanism for dealing with sin: just present the offerings according to God s instructions, and everything would be OK. But read the following verses to see what thoughtful Israelites came to realise about the sacrificial system (share the verses around the group). Why was simply offering the sacrifices not enough? 1 Samuel 15:22 Psalm 40:6 8 Psalm 51:14 17 Hosea 6:4 6 Read Jeremiah 7:21 29. What does the history of Israel tell us about the ultimate value of the Old Testament sacrificial system?

Read the following excerpts from Hebrews. How is Jesus sacrifice superior to the Old Testament sacrifices? Hebrews 9:11 15 Hebrews 9:23 28 Hebrews 10:11 14 Read Hebrews 10:19 25. How has the tension of the end of the book of Exodus been finally resolved? What should be our response to Jesus sacrifice?

The Sacrifices Sacrifice type What is offered Who offers it How much is offered Burnt offering Lev 1:3,10,14 Male animal without defect Grain offering Sifted grain, baked cakes + oil, incense The worshipper lays a hand on it, then slaughters it Lev 2:2 3 The priest offers a handful What else is done The whole animal Lev 1:5 The priest sprinkles the blood against the sides of the altar A memorial portion The priest offers it with the salt of the covenant N/A Who eats the remains Lev 2:3; 6:16 18 The priests only Meaning of the sacrifice Lev 1:4, 9b, 13b, 17b To turn God s favour towards the worshipper by sending up a pleasing aroma and so atoning for sin. Usually accompanied burnt or fellowship offerings to make a full, balanced meal. Fellowship offering (also called peace offering ) Male or female animal without defect The worshipper lays a hand on it, then slaughters it Lev 3:3 5 The fat parts The priest sprinkles the blood against the sides of the altar Priests and the worshipper To celebrate and enact peace between God and his people, as they share a meal (1 Cor 11:18). Sin offering To purify from moral or ceremonial for a priest Young bull without defect The priest who sinned lays a hand on it, then Lev 4:8 12 The fat parts on the Lev 4:5 7 Blood sprinkled inside tent; put on horns of N/A defilement; to make atonement for acts or states that rendered people slaughters it altar; the rest incense altar; poured at base outside the camp of burnt offering altar unfit to enter God s presence. for the nation Lev 4:13 14 Young bull without defect for a leader Male goat without defect for an individual Guilt offering Lev 4:27 28,32; 5:7,11 Female goat (or lamb; two doves/pigeons; flour without oil/incense) Ram without defect, or silver to the value of 1 + 1/5 th. The assembly brings the animal, and the elders lay hands on it, then slaughter it Lev 4:24 The leader lays a hand on it, then slaughters it The individual lays a hand on it, then slaughters it Same as for an individual s sin offering [Same as for a priest] [Same as for a priest] The fat parts Lev 4:25 Blood on horns of burnt offering altar, poured out at base of same altar N/A Lev 6:26 29 The priest, and any male member of his family The fat parts [Same as for a leader] [Same as for a leader] The fat parts The priest sprinkles the blood against the sides of the altar The priest, and any male member of his family Lev 5:15 16; 6:1 3,6 7 Restore holy things; deal with sin that results in desecrating what s holy & defaming God s name taken in oath There were three special uses of the Fellowship offering: as a Fellowship offering of thanksgiving (expressing thankfulness); to coincide with entering into a vow before the Lord; and as a Freewill offering (an offering for any occasion!). The thanksgiving offering added both leavened and unleavened bread to the animal sacrifice.

3. Sin s seriousness Leviticus 8 16 FOR STARTERS There are many popular life style choices in our society that are not appropriate for people professing faith in Christ. List some of them. What do unbelievers think about Christians and the Christian God when we refuse to get involved in these things? Why do they think this way? 1. OVERVIEW Read the following excerpts from Leviticus 8 16 and summarise in one short sentence what they re about, so as to work out how the whole section fits together (share this task around the group). As you do this, try to turn the specific details into a general principle (I have done one for you as an example). a. Lev 8:1 10 Lev 9:1 4, 22 24 b. Lev 10:1 3 c. Lev 11:1 8, 44 47 Lev 12:1 7 Uncleanness due to childbirth Lev 13:1 8 Lev 13:47 52 Lev 14:1 7 Lev 14:33 45 Lev 15:1 12, 16, 19 d. Lev 16:1 5, 29 34 2. WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING UNCLEAN What is the link between chapters 9 and 10 (see 9:22 24 & 10:1 3)? What was so bad about the offering of Nadab and Abihu? What is the link between chapters 10 and 16 (see 10:1 3 & 16:1)? Chapters 11 15 are enclosed within the parentheses of chapters 10 and 16. Why do chapters 11 15 appear here? What do they tell us about what God is like and what we are like?

Where could an Israelite come across things that would make him or her unclean? Why do you think uncleanness was so commonplace? What was God teaching his people through creating such an unwieldy system? 3. DEALING WITH UNCLEANNESS Share the following passages among the group. What was the cost of becoming unclean? Leviticus 11:29 35 Leviticus 13:45 46 Leviticus 13:47 52 Leviticus 14:39 45 What did being unclean signify (see also Leviticus 15:31)? Share the following passages around the group. List everything someone diagnosed with an infectious skin disease (and therefore unclean) would have to do in order to become clean. Leviticus 14:1 7 Leviticus 14:8 9 Leviticus 14:10 18 Leviticus 14:19 20 How would you feel if, one morning, you discovered an obvious skin blemish? How would that interfere with your life (remember also Leviticus 13:45 46)? What would it take to cleanse you and restore you to the fellowship of God s people? What was the greatest defilement an Israelite could experience (Lev 16:30)? Read Leviticus 16:6 22. How was the defilement of sin to be dealt with? What was the significance of the two goats, and what role did they play in cleansing Israel s sin?

4. JESUS AND UNCLEANNESS Read Luke 5:12 14. What was remarkable about Jesus relationship to uncleanness? What does this tell us about him? Read Hebrews 9:7 14 & 2 Corinthians 5:21. In what way is Jesus similar to the two goats of Leviticus 16? In what way is he better than them? Read Hebrews 10:19 23. Given everything God taught the Israelites in Leviticus 8 16, what is the amazing privilege Jesus gives us by his death? Read Hebrews 12:25 29 (or if you have time, read from verse 18). Confidence to enter God s presence doesn t mean we can now treat God frivolously. What attitude should we have towards him and why?

4. Sin s scope Leviticus 17 22 FOR STARTERS Most Australians are happy to admit that they re not perfect from time to time we all do things we regret. However, many Australians would hesitate to label themselves sinners. Why do you think that s the case? Do you consider yourself a sinner, and what does that mean? 1. RECAP Read Exodus 40:34 35. What is the big issue hanging over the book of Leviticus? Summarise in one sentence what God was teaching the Israelites: through the sacrificial system through the laws about clean versus unclean 2. CONTEXT Read Leviticus 18:1 3. What is the historical context of Leviticus? Where were the people of Israel located when these laws were given to them? Where had they been and where were they headed? What danger did Israel s past and future locations pose? What would be the result of them succumbing to this danger (see also Leviticus 18:24 30)? Find out by reading the following verses around the group what the constant refrain in Leviticus 18 22 is. What is the standard by which the Israelites should measure their behaviour? (Note that this is only a small selection from the relevant verses!) Lev 18:2, 4, 5, 6 Lev 19:3, 4, 10, 12 Lev 20:7, 8 Lev 21:8, 12 Lev 22:2, 3, 31

Read Leviticus 19:2 & 20:24, 26. What is it in particular about the LORD and what he has done for Israel that means he should be the standard by which they measure their behaviour? 3 Given what you know of Israel s history, what do you think are the chances of Israel successfully living up to the standard God has set? 3. SIN S SCOPE Leviticus 17 22 seems to contain a fairly random set of laws. In fact, the editors of my NIV Bible have given chapter 19 the title, Various Laws! Read the following passages and summarise the aspect of life that each set of laws deals with (share these passages around the group): Lev 18:6 20, 22 23 Lev 20:10 21 Lev 19:9 10, 13, 23 25, 35 36 Lev 19:3, 11 12, 14 18, 32 Lev 20:9 Lev 19:33 34 Lev 17:1 9; Lev 18:21 Lev 19:4 8, 26 31 Lev 20:1 6; Lev 21:1 6 Lev 22:14 16, 26 30 How far reaching was a concern for holiness to be in an Israelite s life? In how many different ways could an Israelite fall into sin (in other words, fail to meet God s standard of holiness)? Could the Israelites have read Leviticus and concluded that, while they might occasionally disappoint, they re not sinners? Why/why not? Leviticus 17 22 puts God s people in a dreadful bind: on the one hand, it teaches them how impossibly exacting God s standards are; and on the other hand, it shows them an almost infinite variety of ways in which they can (and will!) fail to reach those standards. Read Leviticus 22:31 33. What comfort and reassurance could an Israelite have found in these verses? 3 To be holy means to be set apart or different from the rest.

4. MERCY S SCOPE Read Ephesians 2:1 10. What is the dreadful bind the whole human race finds itself in, and what will the outcome of this be (verses 1 3)? Reflecting on the image of humanity Paul uses in verse 1, how likely is it that anyone will ever get even close to God s standards for their life? What kind of comfort or reassurance does God have for us (verses 4 7)? Where does this come from (verses 4 8)? How much of it is due to us and our innate goodness? What should flow out of what God has done for us? What is the relationship between what God has done for us and how we live now? How far reaching do you think our concern for holiness should be? Why should we try to live God pleasing lives (remember also Leviticus 22:32 33)? If you have time, read Hebrews 13:1 21 and reflect on the areas of life in which the writer of the letter exhorts us to holiness. Are there any good works in particular that you struggle with and you would like God to equip you for?

5. Remembering God s provision for sin Leviticus 23 25 FOR STARTERS We all know that materialism (living for tangible things instead of God; living for the accumulation of wealth and possessions) is a dangerous trap for Christians. Why is materialism so bad? What are some of the lies of materialism? 1. OVERVIEW So far in Leviticus we ve seen a number of systems God set up for the Israelites in order to teach them about his holiness and how they should live as his people in his presence. Israel was given a sacrificial system, a holiness system (clean and unclean), and an ethical system. Today we look at the fourth system God s people were given: a calendrical system a system of regular breaks and celebrations by which the people could continually remember everything God had done for them. In Leviticus 23 25, the regular holidays and festivals are set out in a very logical fashion: by frequency (from most to least frequent), and by date order. Fill in the table on the next page to get an overview of all the celebrations God gave his people to remember him by (share this task around the group). Reference Festival Frequency Duration Purpose Lev 23:3 Lev 23:5 Ex 12:25 27 Lev 23:6 8 Dt 16:3 4 Lev 23:9 11 Ex 34:26a Lev 23:15 16 Ex 23:16a Lev 23:23 25 Num 29:1 Lev 23:26 28 Lev 23:33 36 Ex 23:16b Lev 25:1 5, 18 22 Lev 25:8 13, 23 24, 39 43 4 Later in Israel s history, the Passover Feast and the Feast of Unleavened Bread tended to be conflated into one feast, since Unleavened Bread began the day after Passover, and both feasts commemorated basically the same thing. It turned a 1 day festival + a 7 day festival into a single 8 day celebration. However, Leviticus 23 seems to treat them as two separate feasts, so we will maintain that distinction here.

2. MEMORY TRAINING What were these festivals designed to train the Israelites to remember? Summarise using the verses below: Leviticus 25:18 22 Leviticus 25:23 The Jubilee year posed a special ethical problem: how do you stop people from ripping each other off by selling land at inflated prices as the Jubilee approached? What was God s answer, and what did this teach Israel about the land they were trading (Leviticus 25:14 17)? What else were the festivals designed to train the Israelites to remember? Deuteronomy 16:1 3 Leviticus 23:42 43 Leviticus 25:39 43 Even more than these blessings from God that the Israelites were to remember, what was to be their focus above all else in celebrating the festivals? Answer by finding what is common to the following verses: Leviticus 23:2, 3, 4, 37, 44; Leviticus 25:2, 17, 38, 43, 55 Right in the middle of the establishment of the regular festivals comes a strange episode. Read Leviticus 24:10 16, 23. What does this story have to do with the cycle of festivals and what the Israelites were supposed to focus on? 3. ISRAEL S FORGETFULNESS In about 620 BC, Josiah the king of Judah made a wonderful and yet shocking discovery. Some of his priests, during restoration work on the temple, had uncovered a copy of the book of the Law (Genesis Deuteronomy) what a wonderful find! And yet when Josiah heard about it, he tore his robes in dismay. He had never heard God s Law before in his life, and his nation hadn t heard it for generations. Josiah sprang into action! He assembled all the people to hear the Law read out in entirety. Then he set about purging all the idols and false gods from Judah. Finally, he sent out an order to the people. Read 2 Kings 23:21 23 to see how well the Israelites had gone with faithfully celebrating all those festivals God had given them 700 years before to remember him by.

About 100 years before Josiah, Hosea had already given Israel God s assessment of them. Read Hosea 2:2 13. What was the outcome of Israel s perennial forgetfulness of the Lord? Read Isaiah 1:11 14. Whenever the Israelites did remember to celebrate the appointed festivals, how did God receive them? Why? What hope was there for God s people? Read Isaiah 1:18 & Hosea 2:14 20. 4. REMEMBERING IN THE NEW COVENANT Read Colossians 2:16 17. What has Jesus done to the old covenant system of remembrance through religious feasts? Why? Read Colossians 1:13 14 & 2 Peter 1:3 4. How does what God has done for us in Jesus compare with the things the ancient Israelites were commanded to celebrate? Read 2 Peter 1:5 15. How important is remembering for Christians? How do we best remember what God has done for us in Christ (verses 5 11)? 5 How does this fulfil the chief purpose of all those ancient festivals? Look over Peter s list of virtues in verses 5 7. Which of these would you like to cultivate so as to enhance your effectiveness and productivity in Christ? 5 A translational caution: In verse 10 my old NIV has, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. A number of newer translations (including the latest version of the NIV) have made the meaning of this verse clearer by using the word confirm instead of make sure. That is: make every effort to confirm your calling and election. Peter is not teaching that our assurance of salvation is based on our ability to live good lives, but that we ought to be eager to do good in order to demonstrate the fact that we are already completely saved. In other words: since this is who we now are (in God s eyes), let s live like it!

6. Responding to God s provision for sin Leviticus 26 27 FOR STARTERS Imagine you re God, and you have the task of getting people to be obedient. What different options could you use? What would be their pros and cons? 1. CONSEQUENCES A common feature of legal documents in the ancient world was that they concluded with a section outlining the consequences of keeping or not keeping the provisions of the document. In that sense, Leviticus is a typical legal document of its time, because chapter 26 perfectly fits this mould. Read Leviticus 26:1 13 After a very brief recap of some of the more significant laws of Leviticus (verses 1 2), the first set of consequences is outlined. For what kind of behaviour are these consequences promised? Summarise the different types of rewards God promises: Verses 3 5 Verses 6 8 Verses 9 12 Compare verses 9 and 12 with Genesis 1:27 28 and Genesis 3:8a. What picture of blessing is God holding out before Israel? Look again at verse 13. On what basis can Israel be confident that God will keep his promises to bless them? Read Leviticus 26:14 17 For what kind of behaviour are these consequences promised? Read Leviticus 26:14 16, 18, 21, 23 24, 27 28 What kind of progression of punishments does this section of the chapter describe?

Summarise the different punishments God threatens (share this around the group): Leviticus 26:14 17 Leviticus 26:18 20 Leviticus 26:21 22 Leviticus 26:23 26 Leviticus 26:27 33 Many people consider the God of the Old Testament to be short tempered, heartless and vindictive. On the basis of what you ve read of Leviticus 26 so far, would you agree? Why/why not? Read Leviticus 26:34 35 What will be one good consequence of God s judgment on his people? Is God s judgment a good or a bad thing? Why? Read Leviticus 26:40 45 Does this passage come as a surprise to you? What does it tell you about God and about the basis of his people s salvation? 2. VOWS Leviticus could quite easily have finished at the end of chapter 26, however the author saw fit to include a little coda. Chapter 27 regulates the practice of making vows to the Lord. Simply put, it was a longstanding custom that when people found themselves in a sticky situation, they would make a commitment of some kind of gift or service to God if he would rescue them. (Sound familiar?) Why do you think, after outlining the consequences of obedience and disobedience, the author decided to finish with this section on vows? What is the connection between chapters 26 and 27? At home, try reading chapter 27. The chapter regulates four things: people and animals vowed to the Lord (verses 1 13); property dedicated to the Lord (verses 14 27); people, animals and property devoted to the Lord (verses 28 29); how to redeem a tithe (verses 30 33). Then read Mark 7:5 13 to see how people could abuse the practise of vows and dedications. In what sense had the Pharisees broken the connection between Leviticus 26 and 27?

3. HOW ISRAEL FARED Read 2 Chronicles 36:15 21 How does this passage reflect Leviticus 26? Can God be trusted to keep his word? Remembering Leviticus 26:40 45, what does this mean for exiled Israel (see also Isaiah 40:1 2 & 61:1 2)? 4. OBEDIENCE TODAY Read Luke 4:16 21 In the light of all you ve been thinking about in this study, what is Jesus claiming about himself? What kind of freedom did Jesus have in mind, and how did he bring it about (see Galatians 1:3 4)? Read Hebrews 2:1 4 & 10:26 39 What is the obedience that God is now looking for, and what are the consequences of this? In other words, how do we become pleasing to God? Read Hebrews 13:20 21 Is there any point to trying to be good? What s the relationship between what Jesus has done and what we do?