Rev. Don Campbell
Leviticus 1-4
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019
THE CHRISTIAN ALTAR
The Old Testament Scriptures close with a promise from the Lord of a messenger who would prepare the way for the coming of the Lord himself (Mal 3:1-4). Jesus confirmed that this messenger was John whom the ordinary people accepted and were baptized. He then says, “but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him” (Luke 7:30). The lawyers were also known as scribes. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Online says, “Their business was threefold: (1) to study and interpret the law; (2) to instruct the Hebrew youth in the law; (3) to decide questions of the law. The first two they did as scholars and teachers, the last as advisers in some court.” Jesus acknowledged that they sat in Moses’ seat, but denounces them for their “lawyering” (Matthew 23).
With this background, we can now begin our study of the Book of Leviticus, which contains laws of worship and daily living. The lawyers had determined that there were 613 laws in the Torah (the first five books of the O.T.). One need not count them, but the majority can be found in Leviticus. However, there were supposed to be oral laws that Moses had passed down from generations to generation. The term “oral law” is a little misleading to the casual readers, because the lawyers had codified these into 36 written volumes long before the first century.
To focus on the minute details of the law, whether Moses’s writing or the oral traditions, is to miss the point of the Book of Leviticus, which Moses sums up: “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). Peter quotes this passage: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:14-15).
Moses gives precise rules as to what sacrifices are to be brought in different situations and precise rules as to how the priests are to offer those sacrifices on behalf of the worshipers. The two peaks which stand out in the mountainous volume of laws is this: One sin is costly. When one sinned “unintentionally” sacrifices had to be made. Two, through those sacrifices, atonement for sin was made. Four times in Leviticus chapter four we read: “And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.” When the sin was individual in nature, the singular “he” is used (vv.20, 26, 31, 35).
Sin is still costly. It cost Christ his life on the cross and it costs us our lives in service. The greater sacrifice demands a greater sacrifice, but it is accompanied by a greater atonement. The writer of Hebrews summarizes: “Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness…According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulation for the body imposed until the time of reformation” (9:9-10). Now, notice the divine “but,” by which the new is contrasted: “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (vv.11-14).
CONNECTIONS, Matthew 28:18-20,Romans 6:1-14
1. The lawyers of Jesus’ day had rejected John’s baptism and in so doing had rejected God’s purpose for themselves (Lk 7:30). Are those who reject the baptism of Matthew 28:18-20 rejecting God’s purpose for their lives? If not, why not?
2. What evidence should we be able to offer that our baptism is a valid one? (See Rom 6:1-14).
