In our culture, Golden anniversaries are special.  When a couple has been together 50 years there is always a celebration!  God also uses the 50th year as a special year, calling it the year of Jubilee!  It was a year of freedom and restoration for all of God’s people.  On the 50th year, debts were to be forgiven and property that was taken or bought from the original owner was restored.  On this year, no one was to work the land.  The land would be left to rest and whatever grew without any human effort was to  be used for food for the people.  It was a blessed time that the people looked forward to.  It pictured the reign of Messiah, when he would come and restore the fortunes and possessions of his people and vanquish their enemies.

The Jubilee was the culmination of 7 periods of 7 years.  After 6 years, the Israelites were to rest their land for a year.  God promised to provide enough for them in the 6th year to carry them through until the harvest of the 8th year.  There were to be 7 cycles of 7 years and following the 49th year, on the Day of Atonement, the priests were to sound the trumpet and announce the beginning of the Year of Jubilee! (Leviticus 25:8-10) What a joyous occasion!  God giving us a picture of his amazing restoration and rule of grace!

The problem was that the Israelites never took the Sabbath years every 7th year and they never did have a Year of Jubilee.  They knew about it because of Leviticus but failed to do what God asked.  When we fail to obey, God always has His way.  The Israelites went for 7o years of captivity in Babylon so that the land where they had lived and neglected God’s command could have it’s rest! (2nd Chronicles 36:20-21)

In the New Testament we find the Jubilee in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, verses 18-19.  Jesus announced his calling and ministry by reading from Isaiah 61:1-2.  The proclamation of the “year of the Lord’s favor” was a reference to “Jubilee”!  Jesus is our Jubilee!  In Him, we have restoration and a return of our stolen property.  God wants us to find our food, fulfillment, and blessing from His grace, not our own efforts!  Jubilee is a picture of Jesus’ provision for every person who trusts in Him by faith!

Today, people seem to want to come to church in the most casual attire possible.  They are very individualistic in their tastes and often want to stand out because of some unusual hair style, color, tattoo or piercing.   According to our reading today, priests had very strict dress and behavior rules.  God was holy and they must be holy too or they might die!  (Leviticus 22:9) This is a good enough reason to pay attention to God’s rules!

In Chapter 21, God warned His priests not to shave their heads, cut the edges of their beards, or cut their bodies. Their appearance was connected with holiness. These men had to present offerings to the Lord each day. The High Priest who had been anointed with the holy oil could not let his hair become unkempt or messed up!  He could not touch a dead body, even that of his mother or father! He was under strict rules because of his position and responsibility before God.

The priests could not marry just anyone either. They could only marry a virgin from among their own people. They could not marry a widow or divorced person or anyone engaged in prostitution! The reason given is that this would defile the offspring and make them unfit to serve in the priesthood and handle the holy offerings. (Leviticus 21:7-8, 13-15)

Priests could not serve and handle offerings if they had a skin disease or had been near a dead body. If they did handle the offerings knowingly when they were unclean, they must be cut off from God’s presence and never allowed to offer sacrifices again! God looked at these requirements with great seriousness and did not allow for levity or laxity! (Leviticus 22:1-4)

So, what does this mean for us today in the twenty-first century? Holiness is not determined today by how we dress outwardly. Thankfully, Jesus fulfilled the law.  We must be dressed in Jesus’ righteousness and cleansed by His blood to be clean. However, our dress outwardly often reflects our heart attitude. Many are lax about their approach to God. If we are seeking to be noticed by others or to express individuality then beware! Our God is still a holy God and those who approach him must come with humility and holy respect.  He desires worship in Spirit and truth!

Man is always looking for someone to blame for sin. It was the “woman you gave me” for Adam.  Eve became his “scapegoat”!  It was the “serpent” for Eve that became her “scapegoat”.  God Himself was blamed by both of them as the ultimate problem.  Amazingly, God had already planned to provide a “scapegoat”!

God loves man and worked out a picture of salvation from sin which is recorded in these chapters of Leviticus.  God set apart one day a year when the High Priest could go behind the curtain of the Holy of Holies in the Tent of Meeting.  That day was called the Day of Atonement.  The term “atonement” simply means a “covering”. On this day, the Israelites could have a yearly “covering” for their sins as the blood was sprinkled on the atonement cover of the Ark of the Covenant.

First, a bull was killed and the blood sprinkled for the High Priest as a sacrifice for his sins.  Then two goats were brought before the Tent and lots were cast.  One of the goats was sacrificed and the blood sprinkled by the High Priest behind the curtain for the sins of the people.  Everyone waited outside to see if God would accept the sacrifice for sins committed.  They were thankful when the High Priest came out alive, his work on their behalf accomplished for another year. (Leviticus 16:6-19)

The second goat was then brought forward.  The High priest laid his hands on it and confessed the sins and rebellion of the Israelites.  This goat was then led out away from the camp into the wilderness to a solitary place and left there.  As the Israelites watched the goat bearing their sins disappear in the distance, they were reminded of the sacrifice necessary to bring a covering for their sins.  God provided a “scapegoat” who would take the blame for them! (Leviticus 16:20-28)

Jesus Christ came as God’s designated “scapegoat”!  He offered Himself on the cross to make “atonement” for our sins.  He shed His own blood to pay the penalty for our sins, once for all time!  (Hebrews 9:11-14) He bore our sins and carried them away into a place of God’s forgetfulness, never to be remembered again!  (Hebrews 10:17)   All we can do is say “amen” to God’s work on our behalf! What a loving and giving Lord!

I remember a missionary from Africa once bringing chocolate coated grasshoppers to a service and offering them to whoever was brave enough to eat them.  I tried one!  It was nice and crunchy and the chocolate took away most of the taste!  Without the chocolate, I am sure it was low in fat and sugar!   In our reading today,  grasshoppers are on the list of “clean” animals that were allowed as food.  (Leviticus 11:21-22)

Why all the rules about “clean” and “unclean” animals?  In fact, the word “unclean” is used over 1oo times in today’s reading.  God is holy and wants His people to be holy too. (Leviticus 11:44-45)  What we eat affects our health and our ability to glorify God with our body.  God knows which animals could carry disease and cause sickness.  If you look at the list, some are obvious.  Eating vultures, owls, osprey’s, bats, or hawks would be dangerous because they feed on carrion–dead animals. (Leviticus 11:13-19) God’s people were also not to eat any animal with the blood in it.

In this same passage, we are not to eat the pig, either.  (Leviticus 11:7-8)  This prohibition is because the pig was also a scavenger, eating anything available.  God did not want His people to be defiled or made sick by the meat.  It might have worms or bring infection.

However, Jesus declared all foods clean.  (Acts 10:10-16) In a vision, Peter saw a sheet with all kinds of “unclean” animals on it.  God told Peter to eat!   When he protested, God told him a second time not to call anything impure that He had made clean.  The Apostle Paul also taught this truth in 1 Timothy 4:4-5, declaring all food was to be eaten with thanksgiving and prayer.

We need to use wisdom in this matter, though.  We must do all that we do out of faith.  If the Lord shows you that for you a certain food is not to be eaten, don’t eat it!  Anything not done out of faith is sin. (Romans 14:23)  We must also be mindful not to cause anyone else to stumble.

In conclusion, when you set down to a meal of grasshoppers, be sure to pray!  God’s blessing and sanctification are a life and death matter!  And be sure to eat with thanksgiving and in faith!  If you can’t do that, grasshoppers might not be a healthy choice for you!  Amen!

Preacher’s kids are sometimes a mess! (Not mine of course!)  In today’s reading the sons of Aaron and nephews of Moses committed a “deadly” sin!  They had experienced the miraculous deliverance of the plagues and seen God act in power at the Red Sea when the Egyptian army was drowned.  They had witnessed the miraculous events of the journey, eaten the “manna” and heard God’s voice on the mountain.  They were dressed, instructed, and anointed for ministry along with their father and other brothers.  They were sprinkled with the blood of sacrifice.  (Leviticus 8)  But sometimes, those in ministry or close to it, become complacent.  Worse yet, they behaved disrespectfully towards God in front of others who were looking to them for spiritual leadership!

Nadab and Abihu had witnessed Moses and Aaron going into the Tent of Meeting and the visible Glory of the Lord appearing to the people. (Leviticus 9:23-24.)  Fire came from the Lord and consumed the sacrifice.  All the people shouted for joy and fell face down.  Evidently, Nadab and Abihu were fascinated with the Tent of Meeting.  They decided to go in there themselves and experience God.  They took “strange” fire with them and God took their lives right on the spot.

It appears that these boys might have been drunk.  In Leviticus 10:8-11, Aaron warns his other sons not to drink wine or any other fermented drink when they went into the Tent of Meeting!  Paul the Apostle also gives the same warning to believers: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery, instead be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18) God is not mocked and holds those with more responsibility accountable for their conduct!  We must be wise and respectful in our handling of the “holy things” or when approaching God in worship!  We can bring judgment on ourselves! (1st Corinthians 11:27-34) In Corinth, some were sick and others died because of improper conduct during the Lord’s supper!

Alcohol is not for those in the church!   Alcohol has caused many to stumble and has destroyed many families and believer’s testimonies.  We have the Holy Spirit and He lives in us!  Please meditate on these Scriptures today and allow the Lord to lead you in your conduct and worship!  Confess and repent quickly!  God doesn’t want you to die! (2nd Peter 3:9)

God hates sin and cannot tolerate sin in His presence.  Satan, one of his closest angels, was cast from heaven because of the sin of pride.  God wanted His people to understand and know His holiness as He lived in their midst after their deliverance from Egypt.

God’s people were given the law of God in the Ten Commandments.  These chapters of Leviticus included specific sacrifices to be offered by individuals or the whole community who had broken these laws through a lack of understanding or neglect.  God’s people were held to a higher standard because of the presence of God in their midst.  To whom much was given, much would be required.  When a person defiantly broke a law of God, no sacrifice was left for him.  This will be dealt with later in another post.

God has made his basic laws known to all men through the conscience.  Every person has a conscience that alerts them when they are about to break a law of God.  (Romans 2:12-16)   The conscience can be seared by repeated sin so that it does not let you know that you are doing wrong any more.   (1st Timothy 4:2)  We are to keep a “clear” conscience by walking in love towards others. (1st Peter 3:16)

God was instructing His children, the Israelites, by these prescribed sacrifices in these chapters of Leviticus.   Each time they offered an innocent animal for a sin of ignorance, they had a visual aid helping them to change their behavior and their consciences were strengthened!  (Leviticus 4:29)  Their godly sorrow brought them to confess their sin and offer the sacrifice of blood.  (Leviticus 5:5,6)  These prescribed sacrifices could only be offered for sins that were not intentional.

The Holy Spirit convicts us when we sin to prompt us to willingly confess and repent. (John 16:8)   “If we confess our sins, , he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1st John 1:9)  Our priest, Jesus Christ, has already made the blood sacrifice for us.  He offered his own blood as atonement (covering) for our sins and bore them on the Cross!  We can “intentionally” be made clean from our “unintentional sins”!  Praise the Lord!   God in His grace has provided everything we need for salvation and cleansing of guilt from sins done in ignorance.

Yuk!  Leviticus!  What can we possibly learn from all this sacrificing of animals?  Why all the blood and death?  Why the burning of offerings?  Why all the rules for priests and people about what and how they are to bring these sacrifices?  Isn’t all of this a bit bizarre?  How can we worship a God who would demand this from His people?

This might be your reaction to this book of Scripture.  But after careful reflection, it starts to add up:  sin causes death.  (Genesis 2:16-17)  Death spread to all men by Adam’s sin. (Romans 5:12-14)  God provided the first blood sacrifice for Adam and Eve after they sinned.  Their own idea was fig leaves, but God clothed them with bloody skins of animals.  (Genesis 3:21)  He was showing them the effects of sin each time they put their new “clothes” on.

Now in these laws in Leviticus, God was again visually helping His people to see how sin affected their lives.  The Law makes us aware of sin and the death that results. (Romans 3:19-20)  Sacrifices offered according to God’s instructions in Leviticus, allowed those coming to worship God to live and have their sins covered.  (Leviticus 1:9,17; 2:9)  God was pleased because those who obeyed were using their faith in His Word!

Today, thankfully, we enjoy the final sacrifice for sin that was made for us 2000 years ago.  Jesus Christ shed his precious blood on the cross of Calvary and declared: “It is finished!” (John 19:30)  When we approach this same Holy God, we can come boldly before His throne any time day or night for prayer, fellowship, or forgiveness. (Hebrews 4:14-16)  What a blessing to be free from the laws and sacrifices of Leviticus!  We now have a much better way made by God Himself!  Take time today to thank Him for providing the sacrifice and the High Priest we needed!

“But now He (Christ) has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.  Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” Hebrews 9:26-28

Do you know that our speech is monitored by God?   The Word of God states that we will answer on the day of judgment for every careless word that we speak!  By our words we will be either justified or condemned!  (Matthew 12:36-37)  God cares about our speech and those who would be priests must watch their speech carefully.  Better yet, they must watch their hearts, which is the source of  speech.  The lips of a priest must preserve knowledge and flow with God’s grace and wisdom. (Malachi 2:6-7)  He is God’s messenger to instruct men.

A problem arose when the son of an Israelite woman and and Egyptian father got into a fight with an Israelite man.  This son cursed the “Name” of God and he was brought before Moses for a judgment.  Moses went before the Lord and inquired and God spoke to him concerning the action that was to be taken.  This young man was to be taken outside the camp.  All who heard him were to lay their hands on his head and then the entire assembly was to stone him.  (Leviticus 24:13-16)  This was to be an example that anyone, native or foreign, who blasphemed God would be put to death.  This was God’s orders.

One of the ten commandments of God was to not take the Name of the Lord in vain.  Many people think only of cursing or swearing when looking at this commandment.  I believe it goes further than this.  When someone claims to follow and know the Lord and then lives in rebellion to Him and His word, he is taking God’s Name in vain.  Our profession is useless.  “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in darkness.” (1st John 2:9)

Our speech is a good indicator of our heart.  What is in our heart will come out.  It is interesting that a fight brought blasphemy out of the one son but not out of the Israelite.  What do you do when under stress or attack?  What kinds of things come out of your mouth?  Do others hear you using God’s Name in vain or cursing God by your speech?  If you have a problem, confession and repentance are highly recommended!  By your words you will be justified or condemned!

The job of a priest is to represent the people before a holy God.  In the old covenant, these priests had some strict rules about their dress and conduct if they were to do this job and live.  Dealing with God was (and is) not a matter to take lightly.  Two anointed young men, Nadab and Abihu, found out the hard way!  They took strange fire and entered the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was and died instantly!  (Leviticus 10:1-2)  As we think about these requirements today, we can be thankful for the New Covenant and the blood of Jesus Christ!

Priests had to be careful what they touched and where they went.  They were forbidden to touch a dead body, except for a very close relative.  Shaving their heads or trimming their beards or cutting their bodies for a tattoo was forbidden.  God evidently loved and wanted them to present their bodies before Him without any modifications, other than a bath.

Priests also had to be careful who they married.  They must marry virgins only and could not marry anyone divorced or defiled by prostitution. (Leviticus 21:7, 13-15) God evidently looked on a priest’s marriage as He designed marriage.  The two of them become one and any defilement in the wife would also defile the husband.  God wanted holy offspring and these children would serve as priests as well so must be pure.  (Malachi 2:15)  Sexual immorality is often related to idolatry. In fact, God says this in His word and warns that an immoral person will not inherit the kingdom of God!  (Ephesians 5:8)

No priest could have a physical defect or deformity or sores related to disease and serve as a priest.  He could eat the holy food but could not go behind the curtain and come before the Lord.  These defects included blindness, lameness, dwarfism, or even damaged testicles.  Holiness in God’s sight was also related to physical health and soundness.  (Leviticus 21:18-23)

As we look at the requirements for priests, we are reminded of God’s statement, “I am the Lord, who makes them holy.” (Leviticus 21:8,15,23) Even though the priests kept the rules, only God’s grace allowed them to serve and come before Him.  A blood sacrifice must be offered to complete the process.  Cleansing is by faith and granted through God’s amazing grace!

It seems that God knows all about our sexual practices!  He warned the Israelites not to do the things sexually that Egypt did.  He also tells them that the Canaanites practice things sexually that must be avoided. (Leviticus 18:2-3)  Sex is important because God is after godly offspring!  (Malachi 2:15)  He specifically designed man and woman to fit together sexually.  Sex was to take place only in a marriage covenant and the sexual union brought them together and made them one flesh!  From this union, God would use them to bring other human beings into eternal existence.  Holiness and godly offspring would come as God’s people completely obeyed His commands for proper sexual contact. (Leviticus 18:4-5)

Some of the heathen practices that the Israelites were forbidden to have included sex with close relatives, incest, and others’ spouses (adultery).  (Leviticus 18:6-20)  Sexual relations outside of marriage dishonor the person and others related to them.  God commands respect for each person and for other relationships and marriages.   Love is at the heart of these commands.  God is love! (1st John 4:16)   Sexual contact defiles the body by spreading diseases.  It also has a detrimental effect on a person’s soul and spirit.  The Bible says they become defiled by such conduct. (2nd Corinthians 6:14-7:1)  Adultery and divorce sows violence into a relationship.   (Malachi 2:16)

Another forbidden practice was offering children to Molech.  Molech was an idol god to whom the Canaanites regularly sacrificed their children.  God warned them that this dishonors Him and profanes His Name.  God loves children and wants to give them life, not see them sacrificed!  (John 10:10)

God also spoke plainly about homosexuality and bestiality.  These evil practices were strictly off-limits to God’s holy children.  They were detestable to Him and He explained that it was these practices that defiled the land and caused it to vomit out the inhabitants!  (Leviticus 18:22-28)  Those who would be involved in these practices must be cut off from God’s people.  These practices defile a person physically and spiritually and make them detestable to God.

Nothing could be plainer to understand, unless you were willfully blind!  God cares about His people and loves them enough to help them with healthy sexual advice.  We would be wise to love what He loves and hate what He hates!  God blesses holy sex between a man and woman who are in a marriage covenant!