LEVITICUS Windows into the Heart of God
Jewish Holy Calendar: Leviticus 23 Spring Barley Harvest Summer Wheat Harvest Fall Fruit Harvest March/April May/June Sept/Oct Unleavened Bread Nissan 15-22 Pentecost Sivan 7 Trumpets Tishri 1 Booths Tishri 15-22 Passover Nissan 14 First Fruits Nissan 17 Atonement Tishri 10 Death of Christ 1 Cor. 5:7 Resurrection of Christ 1 Cor. 15:20-23 Birth of Church Acts 2 Rapture of Church 1 Thes. 4:16 Removal of Sin 1 Thes. 4:16 Living with God 1 Thes. 4:16
All Intentional Sins (Day of Atonement) Unintentional Communal Sins (High Priest and Community) Unintentional Individual Sins (Leader and Individual)
The Ritual of Blood Entering God s presence requires purification by blood. Atonement
The Ritual of Riddance Entering God s presence requires removal of sin. Forgiveness
The Ritual of Denial Entering God s presence requires spiritual preparation. Humility
Regular Access to God This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. Leviticus 16:29-34
Regular Access to God It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community. Leviticus 16:29-34
Application: Humble Approach The final theological truth found in this passage is that the people responsible humble themselves. To receive atonement from God, the people had to show evidence of repentance and genuine spiritual concerns. Allen Ross
Regular Access to God This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites. And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses. Leviticus 16:29-34
Regular Access to God Entering God s presence requires spiritual preparation. Take this seriously.
Blood and Sacrifice The LORD said to Moses, Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: This is what the LORD has commanded: Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD in front of the tabernacle of the LORD that person shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; they have shed blood and must be cut off from their people. This is so the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields. Leviticus 17:1-9
Do-it-yourself spirituality was to have no place in Israel. Derek Tidball
Blood and Sacrifice They must bring them to the priest, that is, to the LORD, at the entrance to the tent of meeting and sacrifice them as fellowship offerings. The priest is to splash the blood against the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come. Leviticus 17:1-9
Blood and Sacrifice Say to them: Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD must be cut off from the people of Israel. Leviticus 17:1-9
Blood and Sacrifice All sacrifices must be made to the LORD. Sacrifices are for atonement.
Blood and Eating I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood. Leviticus 17:10-16
Blood and Eating I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood. Leviticus 17:10-16
Throughout the Bible blood is not only the symbol of life it is life itself. When blood is shed life is relinquished. Allen Ross
Blood and Eating Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off. Leviticus 17:10-16
Blood and Eating Anyone, whether native-born or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be ceremonially unclean till evening; then they will be clean. But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be held responsible. Leviticus 17:10-16
Blood and Eating All blood is for sacrifice to the LORD, the giver of life. Blood is for sacrifice.
Leviticus: Windows into the Heart of God The LORD invites His people into His presence on the basis of substitutionary blood atonement and substitutionary removal of sin.
Leviticus: Windows into the Heart of God True worshippers must make their sacrifices to the LORD alone, recognizing that He has complete authority over life.
Fulfillment: Jesus Is Better Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Colossians 2:16-17
Fulfillment: Jesus Is Better God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood to be received by faith. Romans 3:25
Fulfillment: Jesus Is Better God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Fulfillment: Jesus Is Better For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Hebrews 13:11-12 (NASB)
Fulfillment: Jesus Is Better Aaron Earthly Copy Tabernacle Hebrews 9:24 Jesus Heavenly Real Tabernacle Blood of Animals 9:12-14 His Own Blood For His Own Sin 7:26-28 Not for His Own Sin Repeated Yearly 9:25-28 Once for All Time Atonement/Fellowship 10:1-18 Eternal Forgiveness
Jesus is both priest and sacrifice, both the goat that dies to atone and the scapegoat who lives to bear sin away. He lived and died in total submission and dedication to God. He removed the defilement of our sin and paid the price for our iniquity. He ripped open the curtain and gave us constant, privileged access into the presence of God. Derek Tidball
In him our alienation from God because of our sin, and God's distancing himself from us because of his holiness, are overcome. All sin is forgiven and we are reconciled to a holy God. Every aspect of the work of this wonderful, yet complex, Day of Atonement finds its fulfillment in Christ. He is indeed the all-sufficient sacrifice for sin. Derek Tidball
Application: Praise The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Hebrews 13:11-15
Application: Praise Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:11-15
LEVITICUS Windows into the Heart of God