Aleethia!

There are several component pieces often used in a good sermon. An exciting or touching story to grab the audiences attention is one element often used by preachers. Jesus did this with the story of the prodigal son, or the good samaritan.

Theology is a necessary component. Theology is simply the study of God. If the preacher presents a sermon devoid of theology, then it was by definition devoid of God and a bad sermon. So a preacher must present some theology. As he attempts to explain a passage of Scripture he relates what that passage teaches us about the nature of God.

There is one other vital part to any good sermon. If the preacher tells a gripping story, and teaches solid theology but fails to do this, the sermon was for naught. What is it that you want at the conclusion of a good sermon? Application. How does this relate to me? How do I take what the preacher has told me about God today, and put it to work in my life?

If these first three books of the Bible were a sermon, Leviticus would be the application. Genesis and Exodus told us an engaging story. They taught us a lot of great, and exciting theology, which hopefully got applied to our lives in my presentation. Now Leviticus is going to take that story, and that theology and apply it to our lives.

By way of review.

In the first two books, Genesis and Exodus, we began with a discussion of the main characters and events, and then moved to theology. We learned of:

• God’s revelation of himself to man
• God’s supremacy as the creator
• The nature of mankind due to the fall
• His judgment of sin in the flood
• His election in the call of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
• His sovereignty over the affairs of men in the story of Joseph
• His election again in the call of Moses
• His power over nature and supremacy over the gods of men in the Exodus story
• His sovereignty over the hearts of men in the story of Pharaoh
• His holiness in the giving of the law and judgement of Israel’s sin
• His presence with his people in the tabernacle
• And above all his plan of redemption for all of creation

Moving into the book of Leviticus presents unique challenges. Leviticus contains very little narrative. Most of the book is the dictation of laws for the nation’s worship and practice.

Due to the dry and, what may seem, tedious nature of these laws for New Testament Christians, Leviticus is somewhat obscure. Not many people devote much time to the study of this book. However, there are some magnificent truths to be gleaned from these pages regarding the application of what we have learned in the first two books.

Leviticus may be obscure, but it does have it’s famous lines. In the founding of America, the symbolic icon of freedom known as the Liberty Bell, takes its name from Leviticus. Inscribed around the flange of the bell is Leviticus 25:10

…proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.

A good way to summarize the book is to read the first and last verses.

Leviticus 1.1 – The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,

Leviticus 27.34 – These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

There are three kinds of law represented in the book of Leviticus: moral, civil, and ceremonial. We saw in Genesis and again in Exodus that sin is the violation of God’s law. In Genesis we saw this most dramatically in the fall of Adam and Eve as they disobeyed God’s command and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Exodus we saw sin most dramatically in the people’s idolatry with the golden calf.

At the end of Exodus we said that the people now had God’s law in written form, a place of worship in the tabernacle, and God’s presence in their midst. This presented a question: How are a sinful people to live in the presence of a holy God?

Leviticus answers that question. The moral law tells us how we are to live so that we may avoid sin. The ceremonial law answers the question of how to deal with sin once the moral law has been violated. The civil law governed how they might live together with each other.

Here’s a brief outline of the book for our purposes.

Leviticus 1-7 – ceremonial laws of sacrifices
Leviticus 8-10 – institution of the priesthood
Leviticus 11-15 – laws concerning purity
Leviticus 16 – The Day of Atonement
Leviticus 17-25 – various moral and civil laws
Leviticus 26 – blessings and curses of the covenant
Leviticus 27 – vows and tithes

What can we, as New Testament Christians, learn from all these laws? I think we can learn the same things the Israelite people were to learn, 1) how to deal with our sin, and 2) how to live holy lives.

Mark Dever summarizes the lessons of Leviticus with these two statements.

God’s people are distinct, so they should live holy lives.
God’s people are sinful, so they should offer sacrifices.

I think that’s a fair analysis of the teaching of this book. In Genesis and Exodus, we learned of the holiness and sovereignty of God. In Leviticus we apply that theology by learning what we are to do when we sin and offend a holy and sovereign God. In Genesis and Exodus we saw God’s election in choosing a people for himself. We even saw in the Exodus that God’s people included gentiles. From the New Testament we learn that we, as Christ followers, are indeed the people of God. Leviticus applies this theology for us by showing us how we are to live holy lives.

Even though it’s not particularly in order, I’d like to tackle the last of the two points first.

How are we as God’s chosen people, to live holy lives?

This is a difficult enough question to begin with, but use Leviticus as your context and you compound the issue. Leviticus was written by Moses as a set of laws to govern life for the Israelites in the fifteenth century B.C.

As Christians living in the 21st century AD, who are under grace rather than the law, we often think a book like Leviticus, full of laws and regulations, has little to do with us. Nothing could be further than the truth.

We are God’s people, and as such we are called to live holy lives.

Leviticus contains a LOT of language about clean and unclean. Don’t confuse these terms with sanitary concerns that we might have. While some sanitary concerns are included, ultimately this is not about germs. This is about personal holiness and separation from sin.

Over half of all the Old Testament references to clean and unclean are found in Leviticus (clean = 46/100, unclean = 116/184).

Some of the cleanness commands do relate to sanitation: the commands to quarantine those who have infectious diseases, the commands to remove carcasses outside the camp and burn them, the commands regarding mold and mildew in houses or on clothing, the commands about bodily discharges, even the commands regarding uncleanness as it relates to child birth.

Now these particular commands serve a dual purpose. Not only do they enforce good sanitation, but they also enforce this idea that the people are to be holy, separate, different from their neighbors. You see, most of the Canaanite cultures they would encounter as they moved into the promised land, incorporated sexual practices, and or child sacrifice, into their religious practice. To declare these things unclean meant that they could not be used in worship. So the idea that a couple is unclean after having sex meant they could not go to the temple to worship until the next day. This prevented them from incorporating perverted pagan practices into the worship of God.

We also see that everything in life was viewed as either clean or unclean. Nothing was considered morally neutral. All aspects of living have some bearing on worship. All of life is spiritual in nature.

We often think of the priests as primarily concerned with the sacrifices and the temple, yet we see in Leviticus that their main job was

…to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean… – Leviticus 10:10

And the priests were held to an even higher standard than the people were. We know from the New Testament that we are all priests of God.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession… – 1 Peter 2:9

To him who loves us…and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father… – Rev 1:5-6

If we are priests, then part of our job as priests of God, as Christians, is

…to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean… – Leviticus 10:10

And to drive home the point that the priests are to make this distinction, and that it is serious business, let’s look at one of the few narrative sections of Leviticus, the beginning of chapter 10.

Read Leviticus 10:1-8

We don’t know exactly what kind of fire these two sons of Aaron brought into the tabernacle, but we do know it was not authorized. This was not the way God had prescribed that things should be done. And God burned them to death for it. Not only that, the other priests including their father and brothers, were told not to mourn for them or God would kill them as well. That seems a bit harsh, but the point is, mourning for these men would have indicated disagreement with God’s judgment.

Holiness is an important issue.

One other episode of narrative from Leviticus might help us even more. In chapter 24 we see a brief story of a man who is stoned.

Read Leviticus 24:10-16

Holiness is serious business. Mark Dever makes the point that God is more concerned with our holiness than he is with the length of our life on earth. Rather than praying for increased days, or a healthy body, we should pray for holiness.

Lest you think it is just the OT that is concerned with holiness. Listen to what Paul says regarding the seriousness of holy living.

Read Galatians 5:19-21

So how are we to live? Paul tells us in Colossians 3:12. You may remember this from our study of that book.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…forgiving each other…and above all these put on love… (Colossians 3:12-14)

Do you know what Jesus favorite verse was? The verse he quoted more than any other. Not only did Jesus quote this verse multiple times, demonstrate it in the parable of the good Samaritan, and use it as part of his summary of the Law, Paul quotes it twice (Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14) saying the entire law is summed up in this one statement, and James also quotes it, calling it the “royal law” of Scripture.

…you shall love your neighbor as yourself… (Leviticus 19:18)

I said earlier that Leviticus was mostly application. It is. It applies this command in many ways. Look just a few verses earlier at Leviticus 19:15.

Read Leviticus 19:15

You might think Scripture is for the poor, and it is. Leviticus gives special consideration to the poor in regards to the sacrifices to made. Scripture is also for the rich. It is for everyone. Justice is the goal. Don’t show favoritism toward the poor just because he’s poor, don’t defer to the rich because he has money or power. Be just and fair.

All kinds of practical instructions are given regarding damages to be paid, or punishment to be executed, if someone is mistreated.

Faithfulness and purity in relationships is set forth as a standard because that is the loving way to deal with one you have made a commitment to. All the civil laws found in Leviticus stem from this one statement to love your neighbor.

God’s people are to be holy and loving. We are to distinguish between what is pure and what is impure. We are to treat all people with respect and love. As Rusty said a couple Sundays ago, love is to be the defining characteristic of the people of God.

Don’t behave the way the heathen people’s around you do. Don’t mistreat your body by feeding it all kinds of unhealthy food. Don’t live in filth, clean your room! Don’t engage in perverted sexual practices. Keep your relationships pure and faithful. Respect human life, even that of the smallest members of society. Treat each other with love.

This was for the Israelites in the 15th century BC and for us in 21st century AD America. Be holy and love one another.

How are we to deal with our sins?

This is the ideal, but we won’t accomplish it perfectly. We will sin. We are sinful, fallen humans. How are we to deal with our sins? That is the other question Leviticus answers.

Leviticus 1-7 gives details concerning the offering of sacrifices. As you read this section you’ll see a lot of death, blood, and fire.

What we learn is first, a holy God dictates the terms on which a sinful people are to approach him. God gives these commands for how to deal with sin. There is no other way to deal with it. Try it any other way, and the sin is not forgiven.

While we don’t engage this sacrificial system, the same principle is true today. There is only one way of dealing with sin. God has made a way. You can’t just come up with your own plan, you have to use his, or it doesn’t work.

So what is that plan? How do we apply this to our lives? We don’t use this system of animal sacrifices, so what can we learn from it?

We learned early on, in Genesis, that sin has consequences. We learned that death was the punishment for sin. The sacrificial system in Leviticus deals in death. It is a substitutionary system. The animal dies when the worshiper deserves to. When you committed a sin, you were to bring an animal to the tabernacle to be killed in your place as a substitute.

The worshiper would bring the best animal in his possession, so the sacrifice cost him in a very real, financial way. He would place his hands on the animal’s head and confess his sin. Then he would kill the animal. The priest would then complete the offering.

We don’t have to go through this entire ritual, because God himself has provided the lamb, the perfect sacrifice. Jesus took our place on the cross and died the death we should have died. He also lived that holy loving life we should have lived.

There is a penalty for sin. That penalty is death. You and I sinned and deserved death. Jesus took our place, as a substitute, on the cross, and atoned for our sins. This is why we refer to the death of Christ as the Penal Substitutionary Atonement.

To atone for something means to make amends or to make restitution for something. The writer of Hebrews explores this idea of Jesus death replacing the sacrificial system in great detail. I want to read just a couple verses.

Read Hebrews 9:11-12, 22-28

Chapter 16 of Leviticus deals with the Day of Atonement. This was a special sacrifice offered once a year to cover all the unconfessed sins of the people. This is central to the book of Leviticus. The Day of Atonement involves both a substitutionary sacrifice for sins (penalty paid), and an escape goat for the removing of sin (guilt removed).

There are many parallels that can be drawn between the Day of Atonement and the death of Jesus, but we don’t have time to go into them now. Suffice it to say that Jesus is our ultimate sacrifice who has made obsolete the system of animal sacrifice spelled out in Leviticus.

Even so, we are stilled called to engage in many aspects of the ritual, just not the killing of animals.

Throughout the New Testament we are told, especially in Paul’s writings, that we are to put to death our old nature. Romans 12:1 tells us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice. We are to die to our own self interest and seek Jesus’ kingdom.

The application of this principle in Leviticus involves sacrificing your financial resources to God, sacrificing your time to God, and most importantly, confession of sin to God.

This is one thing I really want you to take away from Leviticus. Sin must be confessed. Each time a sin was committed, either intentionally or unintentionally, confession was made.

The laying of the hands on the animals head was symbolic of the transfer of sin from the worshiper to the animal. For this to happen, confession had to take place. The person must acknowledge their sin, confess it before God, and make sacrifice for it. Look at Leviticus 5 for an example.

There is a big long list of possible sins a person might commit, and then this statement.

Read Leviticus 5:5-6

It is no different for us today. The apostle John tells us of the importance of confession

1 John 1:9

If we confess! The confession is vitally important to our forgiveness. It is so because confession humbles you. When you confess you are acknowledging your own failing, acknowledging your sin, and your need for forgiveness. And Scripture tells us that God opposes the proud, those how won’t admit their wrong, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5). Grace! That which we don’t deserve!

As Christians, the way we are to deal with our sin in the presence of a holy God is through confession. It is through confession and humility that we have access to God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

This week as you live your life, remember the theology of Genesis and Exodus.

Remember God’s holiness.
Remember God’s sovereignty.
Remember God’s judgment.
Remember God’s election (you are the people of God).
Remember God’s presence.
Remember God’s mercy.

And make use of the application given us in Leviticus.

Humble yourself and confess your sins. God will be gracious and forgive them!

Be discerning about what is holy and what is not. Avoid uncleanness before God.

Don’t live like the heathen in our society. Instead, live a life marked by love.