Step by Step through the Old Testament

Step by Step through the Old Testament

Eric L. Arnold, Substitute Teacher

Week 20

Exodus 34-40 and Leviticus – Be Holy as He is Holy

Moses has just come down from Mt. Sinai. The Israelites were worshipping the golden calf. We covered that last week. Moses got angry, threw the Ten Commandments down, and broke the stone tablets. In chapter 34, he is going to get another set of tablets. This is a second set.

Exodus 34:4-5

So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD.

"Proclaimed his name." I think we would tend to gloss over that, but understand what "proclaiming his name" means. When you think about famous names in history—Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, Bill Clinton—things come to mind. You start thinking about things associated with that name. That’s what is going on here. The Lord is proclaiming His own name. He’s reminding the people of the experiences they’ve had and the image of Him. He’s developing a relationship with man and by proclaiming His name, He’s reinforcing that. "I am God. I am that I am." The people can identify with Him more and more.

Exodus 34:6-7

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

God does not leave the guilty unpunished. He is not saying, "I’m going to forgive and forget your sins." It doesn’t work that way. "I’m trying to teach you that there is a penalty for sin and that penalty is death."

How do we reconcile God’s mercy, faithfulness, and love with His judgment? That’s where we’re heading. We’re going to find out that it’s the sacrifice. Each of us has sinned. The penalty for us is death. But God does allow a substitute for our deaths, a sacrifice. In place of us dying, something else must die.

At this point, the sacrifices are not taking away sin—they are just covering them up. Sin will not be taken away until the perfect sacrifice comes in Jesus Christ. Through the blood of Jesus, sins won’t be covered up anymore but removed, done away with, and wiped out.

Exodus 40:34-38

Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out--until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.

The Hebrew word used to describe the "glory of the LORD" was "shekinah" glory. The Israelites were the only people in the Bible who saw this "shekinah" glory, this presence of the Lord. It led them through the wilderness. This didn’t take any kind of knowledge, human intellect, or human wisdom. They did not cast votes to see where they should go. It was plain and simple. If the cloud moves, follow it. If it stops, that’s where we settle. There exists this same kind of "pillar of cloud" and presence of the Lord for us, today: the Holy Spirit. Most people do not see it or get it. God, through the Holy Spirit, ought to lead and guide us the same way the pillar of cloud led the Israelites. But we always tend to lean toward human reasoning. It’s so easy to do. You’ve heard the saying, "God helps those who help themselves." I just don’t believe that. I think that’s a lie from Satan. I think that we should use the talents and resources God has given us, but everything should come through the Holy Spirit. We use what we learn about God and Jesus to prayerfully seek guidance from the Holy Spirit as we make everyday decisions. God will provide.

That is Exodus. We started Exodus with the Israelites in slavery and bondage in Egypt. We ended Exodus with God’s glory and presence leading the people. The story of Exodus is a lot like our story. As Christians, God has delivered you from the slavery and bondage of sin and brought you into His presence and the center of His will to lead and guide you. The same thing that happened in Exodus with the Israelites happens to us.

Next is Leviticus. In Exodus, Israel is redeemed, delivered, and called as a holy nation. God establishes Israel as His holy nation. Leviticus will show us how the Israelites are to live out this priestly calling they had in Exodus. We will learn about the sanctuary of God and the service that is required of the Israelites as a result of their dedication to God.

A quick summary to this point:

Genesis – Man ruined.

Exodus – Man redeemed.

Leviticus – Man worshipping God.

The word you hear over and over in Leviticus is "holy." This is a book all about holiness. Holy living. We have been reading Genesis and Exodus by considering that we were Israelites. We’re going to hear some things that make us say, "Well, that doesn’t apply to us today." But we learn how we are to be holy, how we are to be set apart and separate from this world.

Have any of you read Leviticus? <A few hands.> Have any of you tried to read Leviticus? <Many more hands.> Let me give you a little personal testimony. I’m trying to read through the Bible. I got convicted because I’ve never actually read through the entire Bible, but I have Tom Clancy novels sitting by my bed that are thousands of pages thick. If I can read those novels, I can read the Bible. So every night, instead of picking up my Tom Clancy novel, I’m reading the Bible. I just read as far as I can until I’m ready to fall asleep. It took me a month to get through Leviticus. I would read a little bit and I’d be out like a light. It’s tough to read all of these rules and regulations. But there are a lot of people who maintain that Leviticus is one of the most important books of the Bible. It details our relationship to God—how we worship Him and walk with Him.

The title, "Leviticus," means "pertaining to the Levites." At this point, the Israelites are gathered around Mt. Sinai. Leviticus is filled with all kinds of instructions, rituals, regulations, and laws for the people to follow…this tends to make it dull, drab, and boring. But it’s not. The real significant thing we learn is about the role of the sacrifice in God’s plan—that God will accept a substitute for the death of a sinner. You all know that this points to the ultimate sacrifice in Christ.

The first part of Leviticus talks about the access to God. The Israelites only have access to God through the sacrifices made in the tabernacle. The latter half talks about fellowship with God that only occurs through obedience because of the holiness of God. "Be holy as I am holy."

Leviticus 1:1a

The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting.

Notice that He is speaking from the "Tent of Meeting" or tabernacle. Until this point, He was only speaking from Mt. Sinai. Only Moses went up the mountain to talk to God. Now the glory of the Lord is filling the tabernacle. Now He’s speaking from the Tent of Meeting.

Leviticus 1:1b-2

He said, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: `When any of you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.

Notice He says, "When any of you brings an offering…" He didn’t say, "As each of you brings an offering…" or "You all must bring an offering…" This was a voluntary offering. It’s the same kind of choice people have today. You can accept Christ or reject Him. You can choose to believe, listen, obey, and learn more about God or you can choose not to. It’s the same thing here. It’s a voluntary offering.

God is calling to the Israelites. The calling is for those who will hear. If you hear and believe then you are one of the called.

Also notice that He specifies "an animal from the herd or the flock." That means that the animal is not a wolf or predator or something you don’t mind killing, but the animal is from part of your livelihood. It’s something you’d ordinarily eat or use to work the fields. It’s something that is precious to you, as the one offering the sacrifice—just like Jesus was the precious sacrifice as the Son of God. God gave His precious Son.

The animals were not wild beasts that couldn’t be controlled. The herd and flock are obedient to the shepherd, as the giver. Jesus was the ultimate servant sacrifice for us. He was obedient to God and served all. We see that over and over.

Leviticus 1:3-4

"`If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.

The sacrifice was to be perfect, just as Jesus Christ was perfect.

The word, "atonement," appears in Leviticus almost as many times as the word "holy." Atonement means "a covering" or "to cover up." This allowed the people to be reconciled to God. At this point, this is the only way God provided for the Israelites to atone for (cover up) their sins.

Presenting the sacrifice and laying your hands on it were a way of identifying with the sacrifice. This is publicly acknowledging that the bull or sheep I’m providing is me. It should have been me in its place. I’m the one who should be killed and sacrificed but instead, this sacrifice is going to die.

We experience the same identification with the sacrifice provided through Christ. There are many New Testament verses that detail our identification with Christ as the ultimate sacrifice.

	Romans 8:1-3 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
	Romans 8:9-10 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
	Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
	Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
	Ephesians 2:4-6 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
	Colossians 3:1-4 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
	2 Corinthians 4:10-11 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
	Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

The same way the Israelites identified with their sacrifices, we are identified with Christ.

Leviticus 1:5-9

He is to slaughter the young bull before the LORD, and then Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Then Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.

These are the kinds of rules and regulations we read about in Leviticus. They are very specific: present your sacrifice here, prepare it this way, cut it here, do this with the blood, etc. We cannot presume to go to God any other way than what He specifies. We cannot go to Him on our own terms in our own way. It’s not enough to go to the sanctuary, sit down, listen to some music, listen to the sermon, and say, "I’m done. I’ve worshipped God." It is only through our faith in Jesus and His sacrifice that we are allowed to approach the throne of God to worship Him.

Skip to chapter 9.

Leviticus 9:23-24

Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

Remember the lesson from Hebrews where Christ entered the Holy Place for you and me. It makes me say that we should also shout for joy and fall facedown because of what He’s done for us and continues to do with wiping out our sins. This is not a "charismatic" church, but there are times when you want to raise your hands in praise to God. It doesn’t seem "proper," but if you want to, do it. That’s great. Some things seem "uncomfortable" today like getting on your knees before God. Don’t answer this question, but when was the last time you were literally on your knees before the Holy God!? The Israelites were facedown, shouting for joy. Picture this as a movie. See all these people facedown and shouting for joy. If you saw it today, you’d think it was some kind of cult or crazy religion or something. But we should feel free to worship Him. It’s all for you, God.

Leviticus 10:1-3

Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: "`Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.'" Aaron remained silent.

God is awesome. You see His power here. You may think, "Well, God sure is being hard on Nadab and Abihu." They were in the sanctuary, doing religious things. There were problems with their worship. Their mindset wasn’t right, they were approaching the worship flippantly, and they didn’t obey the specific commands God put in place for worship. This shows us that we need to fear God and His holiness.

At this time of year, you see lots of Nativity Scenes. You see the cute, little baby, the shepherds with their flowing robes, the angels, the stars, a couple of peaceful sheep lying down, etc. It’s easy to forget that this is the awesome savior of the world. This is a holy birth, set apart. This is our King—the King of kings and Lord of Lords. We are to fear God. He is a loving God but His power is awesome! He desires to know us personally—to approach Him at any time for any reason and to be in a constant state of prayer. But we cannot forget that we were invited. God is the one who initiated this relationship. We need to approach Him with reverence.

Hebrews 4 says that now, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we can approach the throne boldly because we are confident in our righteousness through Jesus. Just don’t forget that we’re talking about an awesome God.

Leviticus 10:8-10

Then the LORD said to Aaron, "You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,

I really don’t think God is saying, "Don’t ever drink wine." Wine dulls the senses and impairs judgment. The next verse says that you must be able to distinguish between what is common and what is holy.

It is hard for us to maintain our ability to distinguish what is holy versus what is common. You think about the values that we try to instill in our children and the values we learn about through His Word and through prayer. We are constantly bombarded by the world and the media with "political correctness", "tolerance", and "compromise." "Well, maybe it’s o.k. for people to be homosexuals." I don’t see that in the Bible. There is no gray area. Homosexuality is wrong. That’s just one example.

We have to be on guard in our lives as we distinguish between what is holy (set apart for God) and what is common. Think about not "keeping up with the Jones’." We want to go through this world not making a stir. "OK, I go to work, I do my job, and I come home. If I see somebody that I get a chance to witness to, then that’s great. I’ll do it." But we are to be different. As Christians, we are holy. We are set apart. We should be different. We should be uncommon. We are the salt in the wounds of the world. We should be the light in the darkness. We should be set apart, different, uncommon, holy.

<Why did they have the laws?>

There was a reason God gave these laws to the Israelites. By following the laws, the people were healthier and lived better lives. God knew their situation, knew their surroundings, and provided the laws to make His nation holy.

Leviticus 19:28

Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.

Does this mean that no one should get a tattoo? Is God saying that it is wrong for anyone to get a tattoo?

The verse before this says, "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard." These rules were intended for this time. Tattooing your body, back then, was unhealthy. They didn’t have the sterilized needles and antiseptic sprays that we have today. It was unhealthy. People could die from diseases resulting from puncturing their skin.

< Why do we pick and choose which laws are appropriate for today?>

These laws are what were needed for these people at this time. God is concerned with each one of us, where we are today. At that time, the things listed here were wrong for the Israelites. Some laws, like not having homosexual relations, are mentioned here as well as in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit should lead and guide you as to the pertinence of all these laws. At this time, God was trying to set His people apart. There were Canaanites living around them. In order that the Israelites would be holy, unique, and set apart as His called nation, He commanded them to avoid practicing some of the things the other nations were doing. So He told them, "Don’t tattoo yourselves. Don’t shave the sides of your heads." He was trying to make them a separate people.

<It seems that a lot of laws found in Leviticus are affirmed or cancelled out in the New Testament. There are a lot of references to why certain laws are ok now and why others are to remain in place.>

You hit on another big point: the pendulum. Don’t stone me yet…hear me out. There are two ways to get to Heaven. One is to live a perfect life—never, ever, ever having sinned. (This is fundamentally flawed because we are born with the sin nature of Adam.) Only one person has done this: Jesus. Only He could have. It is impossible. One of the reasons God set up all of the laws was to show people that you can’t do it of your own will and power. You cannot live a perfect life. It’s impossible for you to avoid sin from the moment you’re born until the moment you die. The other side of the pendulum (and the other way to get to God) is through Jesus. Jesus said, "I didn’t come to do away with the law but to fulfill the law." Because of His perfect sacrifice, we have a freedom in Christ. Because of His shed blood, we are as righteous as Jesus is. We are free in Christ. That doesn’t mean that we should all run out and get tattoos. Listen to the Holy Spirit. If something bothers you, don’t do it. It may not be right for you.

<Why do the Jews still follow many of these laws?>

They missed the Messiah. I don’t know how they missed Him, but they missed the fulfillment of all in Jesus Christ. I tried to point some out, but there are so many more things in Leviticus (and all over the Old Testament) that point to Jesus Christ—the perfect, unblemished Lamb, sacrificed for our sins. I’ve got to share something with you. If you get a chance this week, please read Hebrews, chapters 8 through 13. It talks over and over about what we’re looking at in Leviticus and the fulfillment of Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. The institutions God put in place for the Jews are explained in Hebrews.

Hebrews 10:8-9

First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second.

God did not desire the offerings and wasn’t pleased with the sacrifices because they were not His ultimate, perfect will. He sets aside the first covenant, the laws, to establish the second, reconciliation through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 10:10-14

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

What is our "holiness" today? How are we to be set apart? The rules and regulations in Leviticus are examples or guidelines for what God wants of us.

Leviticus 11:44-45

I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

"Be holy because I, God, am holy."

<Just because we can enter heaven through the blood of Jesus Christ doesn’t seem to be a reason to ignore God’s laws here in Leviticus.>

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Does this mean that we shouldn’t shave our beards anymore? There are more words from God in Leviticus than any other book. Leviticus gives us a great picture of what He desires and intends for us today. But because of our righteousness in Jesus, we are free in Christ. We are free from the laws. Some of the laws are still appropriate for today. Many of the laws were intended for those people at that time in that place. God wanted His nation to be holy, set apart from other nations. God wants you to be holy, set apart from this world. What’s right for you may not be right for someone else. What’s wrong for you may not be wrong for someone else. It depends on where you and they are with God. These are not rules or laws required for righteousness anymore. They are guidelines. It is the Holy Spirit that guides today. Here’s what He says:

Hebrews 10:15-18

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

The laws are in our hearts and minds now. The sins and lawless acts have been forgotten. Once you have a saving faith in Jesus Christ, you are free. Through belief in Him, you are righteous. Sin is anything that separates you from God. The Bible says that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

Romans 8:36-39

As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing you can say or think or do can take this away from you. That’s hard to understand. It is not for us to understand. It is a gift. If there were something that we could do to get it, it wouldn’t be a gift anymore. That’s what’s so awesome about it. You could give all your money away and feed the homeless, but your works don’t get you in. It’s strictly your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It’s a gift that you have to accept or reject.

Blaise Pascal, the mathematician and scientist, said that people have to understand something before they can believe it to be true, but divine knowledge and wisdom have to be believed before it can be understood.

Life is a series of choices. Leviticus 26:3-13 says, "If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands," then I will bless you. This is a conditional blessing for the Israelites. Leviticus 26:14-39 says, "But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands," then this is what I’m going to do to you. We have that free will to make the choices. We have all been given these spiritual blessings. God is trying to rain them down on us daily. Do we put up an umbrella of indifference, an umbrella of sin, or an umbrella of being out of His will? Do we put something in the way of God blessing us?

Let me finish up by reading something to you from Titus. This is a summary of Leviticus.

Titus 2:11-14

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

In Exodus, we were redeemed. In Leviticus, we learn how to worship and walk with a holy God.

Prayer:

Dear glorious, heavenly Father, you are mighty. You are holy, holy, holy. We are so small and so insignificant. Yet you show us in Leviticus how you care about every, single detail that’s going on in our lives. You’re not just a God on Sunday. You’re not just someone to be worshipped on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights. You’re an awesome God who cares about everything going on in our lives. I thank you for that. I ask that you teach us to be holy, as you are holy. You show us how you are set apart. I ask that you guide us to be set apart as well. Help us as we strive to be perfect, as Christ is perfect. We know we can’t live up to that, but that is our hope and our goal. Thank you for sending your holy Son for us. Lead us and guide us as we go through this week. Help us to rely on your Holy Spirit to lead us. In your name, I pray. Amen.

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Substitute Teacher's Email: carltonlcv@gmail.com

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