Leviticus is usually hard for me to read. There are a lot of lists, laws, dimensions and sacrifices (since they are building the tabernacle). The disconnect from my experiences and the expectations of modern Christianity have always been difficult for me to overcome. As I trudged through, some realizations finally started penetrating my sluggish brain that I could appreciate and hold on to - Sin is expensive, our God provides a covering for all - rich or poor, and God is unchanging in his grace even, in a world requiring sacrifice.
There are so many different sacrifices, so for the sake of simplicity I'm just going to focus on one that exemplifies all three characteristics.
Sin is expensive.
These Old Testament books tangibly show us the cost of sin - and it is high. Leviticus lists the required sacrifice for various offenses experienced in our human walk and I was amazed at how expensive the list could become in a very short time. In Lev. 4:27-32 we see the price of an unintentional sin (once you are made aware of it) is a female goat. Now if you're like me, I sin all the time, some of it is premeditated, some sporadic, and some I completely miss until days or weeks later. Can you imagine every time a sin was brought to your attention needing to buy, or remove from your herd, a goat to pay for it? And this is one of the cheaper sacrifices! Some of the sin offerings require a lamb and a bull.
I'm very happy we are no longer required to physically sacrifice an animal for our sin, for our firstborn son, for cleansing after childbirth, for cleansing after touching a dead thing, for... well you get the picture. That being said, I can't help but wonder if we might be more conscious about what pleases or displeases God if we DID have to do those things. God is very clear that sacrifices alone do not please Him, He wants these to be a reflection of what is going on in our hearts (Isaiah 1:11 and Deut. 10:16), but I can see these tangible sacrifices serving as vivid reminders the cost of breaking God's law, and reinforcement not to do it again.
God provides a covering for all.
Lev. 5:7 "But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin he has committed two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering." These sacrifices weren't to fill the Lord's belly, or make the priests fat. They were to make compensation between the offender and God, to restore relationship. God took care to insure financial state did not prevent that restoration. Not all sacrifices include this provision for the poor, but MANY do. Just a reminder that the Lord desires a relationship with all of us, one that's not dependent on our physical state in this earth, or what we can bring Him. As C.S. Lewis said, "God doesn't want something from us. He simply wants us."
God's grace is unchanging.
It is hard for many people to see God's grace in this period of biblical history. There are such seemingly harsh consequences, so many warnings of God's wrath and so much blood to cover iniquities that I can understand how one could get fixated on those things and miss God's grace. Two thoughts come to my mind. First: God is one. We cannot separate His grace from His righteousness and holiness. In His holy state Gad cannot tolerate anything less than holy to be near Him, and lets face it, we are all less than holy. So were the Israelites. Run-in's with a holy God, while having a 'stiff neck' and without the covering of Christ's blood are bound to have messy consequences, in spite of God's immense long-suffering and patience. Second: This WAS a demonstration of God's grace. The time was not ripe for Christ yet, but in God's love and desire for His people He did not want to wait to have a relationship with them. So He established His covenant with Abraham and provided His descendants with a way to cover their sins and allow them communion with Him - sacrifice. While it seems brutal, this laid the foundation for our relationship wit Christ today. Without sacrifice God's people could not stand in His presence. While it doesn't involve physical sacrifice of animals, the same is true today. Without Christ's sacrifice we could not stand in the presence of our Holy God. Oh that we would take that sacrifice as seriously, and see it as precious, as the Israelites did the sacrifice of goats and bulls.
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