LEVITICUS 11:1-16:34 Well, today we have in our lesson 6 chapters of the Book of Leviticus. We know we can t begin to cover 6 chapters, so let me just make some remarks about chapters 11-15 by way of a very brief overview. How many of you have ever heard the old adage, cleanliness is next to godliness? That s one of those sayings that some folks believe is in the Bible. Of course, it isn t, but our lesson today teaches us that cleanliness is very important in God s eyes. To the Hebrews, everything was either clean or unclean. This included animals, foods, and people and objects. Animals and foods were clean or unclean by nature. Unclean foods and animals were permanently unclean and nothing could change that uncleanness but, people and objects could become unclean and then be made clean again by Levitical purification. If you studied or even gave a cursory reading of chapters 11-15, you might believe these laws were given for the sole purpose of keeping the children of Israel healthy. Even though it s true that all these laws were given as these folks were wandering in the wilderness and there were no hospitals, no doctors, no penicillin, no antiseptics this is not the primary reason the people were to obey these laws. The primary reason the people were to obey these laws is because God had called them to obedience!! One of the benefits of obedience to God by the child of God just happens to be the well-being of the child of God. God DID want His children to be healthy and protected. Disease and the spread of disease WERE of utmost importance to God. So, God laid down laws about foods they were to eat and not eat; about leprosy and bodily discharges. Also, women right after childbirth were susceptible to disease and had to be protected. From birth to burial, the Jews were to submit every aspect of their daily lives to the authority of God s Law. Whether it was selecting their food, preparing their food, caring for a mother and new baby, diagnosing a disease, or even disposing of waste, nothing was left to chance in the camp of Israel, lest someone be defiled. See, disobedience caused and defilement kept them from worship! Let me just say this before we leave these brief remarks on chapters 11-15. These laws applied to the Jews and not to us and let me give you some reasons we know this is true 1) We know in Acts 10, God told Peter that he was released from the laws regarding clean and unclean animals. God told Peter not to declare an animal unclean that God had declared to be clean. 2) Also, Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law. 3) Jesus also said whatever goes into the man from the outside does not defile the man, because it goes into his stomach Page 1 of 8
and is eliminated. And, though we don t see all these rigid commandments regarding the dietary laws and the purification of folks with different ailments, the principles still apply today. If we would eat the right foods and observe God s moral laws and keep sex within the bounds of matrimony if we would not put alcohol and cigarettes and drugs into our body if we would just obey God we would be healthier, wouldn t we? And, we would also be different from the world, wouldn t we? Folks, God called the Jews to be different peculiar set apart holy and they were to demonstrate their calling by obedience to God. By the same token, God has called you and me to be different peculiar set apart holy. Jesus said that we were to be in the world, but not of the world. Just as God called the Jews, God has called us and that calling is to be characterized by obedience! So, the question is this ARE YOU DIFFERENT FROM THE WORLD? Or, do you blend into the world? When folks look at you, do they see a love for God that is demonstrated by obedience to God? Don t think for a minute that these chapters in Leviticus don t apply to us today, folks. They may not be commandments that we have to obey to the letter, but we are to obey the spirit of them. And just as disobedience caused defilement and kept the Jews from worship our disobedience keeps us from fellowship with God. Now, I know we haven t even scratched the surface of these chapters, but I want us to spend our remaining time on Chapter 16. Do you remember as children looking at a picture and within that picture were hidden pictures and you were supposed to circle them or color them? Well, Chapter 16 of Leviticus is filled with hidden pictures that only you and I can find. Everything in this chapter points to a better sacrifice that has been hidden from the Jews. They can t see it! But, you and I can!! The emphasis in Chapter 16 is not on rules and rites and rituals and regulations it is on the blood atonement. Now, we ve mentioned this for the past two weeks. We ve said that God demands a substitutionary blood atonement for sin. We also said that sin separates man from God. God cannot accept man when man s sin is what God sees. We also said that the word atonement means to cover over. Chapter 16 describes to us in detail what God demanded that the high priest do to atone for the sins of the people. Chapter 16 describes for us the Day of Atonement. This was then, and still is the high holy day for the Jewish people and tomorrow just happens to be Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement for the Jewish people. God spoke to Moses and told Moses that he was to speak to Aaron and he was to tell Aaron that he was not to enter the Holy of Holies except one day a year and it was on this day the Day of Atonement. Page 2 of 8
Remember, the Tabernacle was set up with an open area that was fenced all around. This open area contained the bronze laver where the priests would wash their hands and feet. It also contained the bronze altar where the animals were sacrificed. Then, there was an enclosure called the Holy Place. It had a veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place or the Holy of Holies. Folks could come into the Tabernacle, but they were not allowed in the Holy Place. Aaron s sons were allowed in the Holy Place, but they were not allowed in the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest was allowed in the Holy of Holies, and then, only one time a year. Behind the veil, in the Holy of Holies, was one piece of furniture the Ark of the Covenant. Upon the Ark of the Covenant was a covering of gold with a cherub at either end, facing each other. This covering of gold was called the Mercy Seat. The glory of God dwelt above the Mercy Seat. Now, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest was to ceremonially cleanse himself, and clothe himself. He took off the glorious garments that set him apart as the high priest and he put on the simple garments of the ordinary priests. Stay with me now Then, he was to take a bull for a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering for himself and his family and two goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering for the people. These animals had to be examined to make sure they had no defects. He would sacrifice the bull as a sin offering for himself and his family. He would kill that bull and take some of its blood plus a censer of coals and he would enter the Holy of Holies. Verses 11-14 Then, the high priest would do the same with one of the goats. He would kill the goat and bring its blood inside the veil and sprinkle it on the Mercy Seat. Now, the blood of the bull atoned for the sins of the high priest and his family and the blood of the goat atoned for the sins of the people. Verse 17 The high priest was to do this alone. No one else could do it. No one else could enter through the veil. If they did, they died! Tradition tells us that the high priest wore a rope around his ankle so that if he had a heart attack or stroke or seizure or some other problem, he could be dragged out The bottom line is this the veil separated man from God s presence. The high priest and only the high priest could enter only one day a year! Keep that in mind but let s get back to the goats Page 3 of 8
One goat was slain, as we ve already said, and its blood was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat. The other goat was called the scape goat. Aaron would lay his hands on the head of the live goat and he would confess over it all the sins of the sons of Israel. Verse 21 He would then assign someone to take this goat out into the wilderness. Verse 22 Then, Aaron would bathe his body and put his high priestly garments back on and then, he would offer up his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and then the one who had released the goat in the wilderness would wash his clothes and his body and return to the camp and then someone would burn the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering and then that someone would wash his clothes and bathe his body and come back into the camp. ARE YOU TIRED? Well, Beloved, this took place year after year after year after year!! Each time it took place, the sins of the people were atoned for one year what did we say atonement meant? a covering over Do you see? The sacrifices gave a covering over for sin, but it wasn t permanent. Another year, another lamb, another sacrifice. All this was a temporary provision it was a temporary covering over of sin it could not remove sin! Remember our illustration from a couple of weeks ago? about the mistake I make in the note I m writing you and I either cross over the mistake or white it out? Remember we said that was equal to atonement, because the mistake is merely covered over? But, if I take ink remover and completely take the ink stain off the page, that is better? The word atonement is used 77 times in the Old Testament and it means to cover over in Hebrew. But, the word is used only once in the New Testament, and the word that is translated atonement in the King James Version means reconcile in the Greek. What I m saying is this just as the white out could do nothing but cover over my mistake in your note, the blood of bulls and goats could do nothing but cover over the sins of the people. What the blood of bulls and goats could never do the blood of Jesus did!! The blood of Jesus did not merely cover over my sin. The blood of Jesus justified me before God the blood of Jesus reconciled me to God!! The blood of Jesus purged my sins before God!! So, with all that in mind Let s see the contrasts between the high priest of the Old Testament and our High Priest!! 1) The priests had to offer sacrifices for their own sin this was true of even the High Priest. Why? Because they were sinful men. They were born with a sin nature exactly like you and I were! But, Jesus didn t have to offer sacrifice for His sin, did He? Hebrews 7:26-28 2) The Tabernacle where the priests ministered was a temporary dwelling place for God. It was nothing more than a portable tent a mobile worship center. Even Solomon s temple and Zerubbabel s temple and Herod s temple were temporary. The Jews have no temple today, and we re going to touch on that in just a few minutes Page 4 of 8
In Jesus day, the place of Jewish worship was the grand temple that Herod built. But, Jesus didn t go there to offer up His blood Hebrews 9:11-12 Where did Jesus enter? He went to the Tabernacle in heaven the heavenly Holy of Holies And, now because of this offering of the blood of Jesus, God doesn t dwell in a temporary Tabernacle He tabernacles in you and me!! By the way, the question came up this past week among the teachers: When did the sacrifices in the Temple cease? After all, the veil was torn in two when Jesus died. So, did sacrifices continue after that? I believe they did. I believe the priests who did not believe that Jesus was their long-awaited Messiah just patched that veil up and continued those sacrifices until the Temple destroyed in 70 A.D. 3) The high priest wasn t allowed to stay in the Holy of Holies, where God dwelled he had to get his work done, and then get out of there. He wasn t allowed back in there until the next year on the Day of Atonement. But, when Jesus finished His work, He sat down at the right hand of God the Father, and He is always in His presence. 4) The priests transferred the sins of the people to a goat that was led out of the camp out into the wilderness. Verse 21 Can you imagine how long this little goat must have had to stand there while the priest recited all the sins of all the people? Can you imagine this goat being led out into the wilderness to a solitary land (NAS); to a land not inhabited (KJV)? On and on the man led the goat until at last the man untied the goat and the man retraced his steps back to the camp. The goat watched the man disappear and then the goat bleated, and looked around at the barren wilderness around him not a blade of grass not a drop of water the hot, hot sun beating down upon the head of the sin-bearer until finally, with no food and no water and no eye to take pity and no hand to save it died alone bearing the sin of all the people. Beloved, the Holy Spirit led our Lord Jesus Christ outside the city. God put all our sins on Jesus, and with no eye to take pity and no hand to save our Savior died for our sins outside the city. John the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Our sins don t have to be placed on a goat our trust just has to be placed in the Lamb of God!! By the way this is just extra have you ever wondered what the difference was between the sin offering and the burnt offering? Well, as I was reading Dr. John Phillips commentary on the Book of Hebrews this week: In the sin offering, all the vileness of the sinner was Page 5 of 8
figuratively transferred to the substitute; in the burnt offering all the virtue of the substitute was transferred symbolically to the sinner. All of that pointed to what we have in 2 Corinthians 5:21: For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. One last contrast, and we ll wind this down 5) The sacrifice of the blood of bulls and goats never allowed the people into the presence of God. The veil kept the people out!! But, when Jesus died that veil was torn from top to bottom man couldn t do that Josephus said this veil was 4 inches thick. Before Jesus died, God said, Don t come in here! I m holy! you re sinful.! Don t come in here or you ll die. But, when Jesus died and the veil was torn then, we have access into God s presence in fact, God welcomes us into His presence. God says, Come on in I m so glad you came. How long can you stay? Tell Me all about yourself what s going on in your life? Tell me about your family. Do you need anything? And, when we start to go I m sure God says, Oh, don t go, you only just got here why don t you stay awhile longer Beloved, we could go on and on drawing contrasts between the high priest of the Old Testament and our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. But let me just say a few words in closing Two weeks ago, I picked up some framing from a new little frame shop nearby. I was picking up some of the little calligraphy verses from Psalm 139 that I do for baby gifts. The young man made the remark that these verses made nice gifts, and I said something like Oh yes, and since it s from the Old Testament, I can give it to Christians and Jews alike. Now, I ve never given that verse to any Jewish people I don t know why I said that it just popped out of my mouth. Anyway, the young man then remarked that the Jews would be celebrating some kind of really high holy days soon He said, Rosh Hashanah or something like that I said, Well, Rosh Hashanah is important to them, but the really high holy day would come after Rosh Hashanah it would be Yom Kippur their Day of Atonement. Then, the young man asked me, What does that mean? Well, the Lord gave me the opportunity to witness to this young man for about 15 or 20 minutes about the Jewish Day of Atonement and the sacrifices of bulls and goats and all that and finally, I said, But, that s not what Christians believe. So, I presented to him the plan of salvation that man is a sinner by birth. That man needs a Savior. That man cannot save himself. That Jesus came and was the Page 6 of 8
sacrifice for all sin and that all we have to do is only believe and trust Him to save us. Now, this young man didn t commit his heart to the Lord that day. However, I did challenge him to get into the Word and look for Jesus!! I also told him that I did not come into his shop to preach that day but I truly believed that God loved him so much that He wanted him to hear the Gospel. Now, I told you all that to simply say this if I had not known about the Day of Atonement, if I had not been familiar with the Day of Atonement, if I had not been in the Book of Leviticus I probably wouldn t have been as confident to share with this young man that day. mean? I wouldn t have known the answer when he asked me What does the Day of Atonement God s Word is important, dear Christian. God s Word contains the way to salvation and God wants us to know it. Even the Book of Leviticus can be helpful when it comes to sharing the Gospel of Jesus with a lost person. My prayer is that what we see in this lesson today is how much Jesus loves us and what a great sacrifice He made for us. Because of His death at Calvary, we are free from the penalty of sin free from the power of sin and one day, we ll be free from the presence of sin. Jesus paid it all all to Him I owe, Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. I was curious this week about how Jews today observe the Day of Atonement. They can t sacrifice there is no Temple. So, I called our CPA, a precious Jewish man. He shared with me that they observe Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement by confessing their sins and asking God to forgive them. He said it is a very solemn occasion and the services are lengthy and they contain prayers, chants and Scripture reading. The services close with the sounding of the shofar, or ram s horn trumpet symbolizing the closing of the heavenly gates. During the High Holy Days, God is said to bring His heavenly court into session to judge the deeds of mankind. Court opens with Rosh Hashana and closes with the final shofar blast of Yom Kippur. Let me just quote his email: One hopes one is sealed in the Book of Life at the close of Yom Kippur. In the Torah, the five books of Moses, sin is atoned for by the sacrificial animal. Leviticus 16:30 reads on this day, atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. The rabbis have interpreted this to mean that the day itself atones for sin. Since there is no longer a blood atonement possible, repentance, prayer, fasting and charity are substituted for sacrifice. Beloved, a day doesn t atone for your sins repentance doesn t take your sin away without the blood of Jesus prayer doesn t fasting doesn t and charity doesn t. What can wash away my sin? Page 7 of 8
Nothing but the blood of Jesus My prayer today is that we leave here with a deep and abiding gratefulness to the Lord Jesus Christ for what He did at the Cross. He was both the Sacrifice and the Savior. Do you love Him today? Have you accepted His sacrifice for you? Is He your Savior? The story is told of an art lover who was a Christian who was going through an art museum. He would stop and linger from time to time at some of the paintings he particularly admired. Well, he came upon a painting of the Lord Jesus on the Cross. The man was so touched by this painting that he fell to his knees and said, Oh, how I love Him. Someone behind him said, I love Him, too. And, someone behind him said, And I love Him, too. I m not going to ask you to kneel, but why don t you bow your head and tell Him you love Him. Just thank Him for loving you enough to die on a Cross for your sins. Thank Him for the great salvation He has given you. Thank Him that you don t have to depend upon your own goodness to be saved. If you can t thank Him for all that because it has never become a reality in your own life today, could be the day of your salvation just confess that you re a sinner and you need a Savior and you trust the blood of the Lord Jesus to save you. Repent of your sins and ask Jesus to be your Lord. Page 8 of 8