Human beings are amazing creatures. We can be sacrificial, giving, caring, and creative. We can mirror some of the attributes of God such as love, mercy, and justice. We can harness electricity, predict the weather with a certain degree of accuracy, and send rockets into space.
And yet, if you look at humans, think about what messes us up. Think about what happens to us that just turns us inside-out. People who are otherwise smart, often wise, people who know the consequences of bad choices, willingly make bad choices. You know it will cost you. You know it is going to do you damage. You know, when you are willing to actually think, that the reward is not going to be as great as promised, but you jump in anyway.
This all reminds me of something we see in the book of Numbers. In fact, if you ever want to see folly of humanity, and if you want to get a glimpse as to what messes us up, take a peek at what I am, at least this morning, calling the onion rebellion.
For background, the people of Israel have lived their entire lives as slaves in Egypt. They have been forced to work against their will under the whips of brutal task-masters. The Egyptians even attempted to put to death the male children born to the Israelites in order to slow down their population growth. This people cried out to God for mercy, and God delivered them.
As you know, the Lord led the people up out of Egypt in a miraculous salvation. They crossed the Red Sea, saw the Egyptians crushed by the waves, and began a trek in the desert back to their homeland.
As the Israelites walked in the desert, God did more miracles. God provided for the people supernaturally food to eat every day. God provided water for the people to drink. God provided supernatural, visible guidance to lead the people to where he wanted them to camp. God took care of all their needs.
Numbers 11:4-6 – 4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
And here is what happened. The people got tired of the healthy, supernaturally provided, perfect food that the lord gave them. They suddenly began to think longingly of their slavery. They wanted the fish, the leeks, and the onions. And so they began to grumble and complain, dishonoring God out of their desire for onions.
What does this make you think of these people? God is there. They should know he is doing amazing things to care for them. They should know that he is giving them what they actually need. He is making sure that they get where they are going. This is an uncomfortable couple of months, to be sure, but it is surely not as bad as slavery.
But all the rabble can think of is, “We want onions!” They are letting a drive, a simple desire, an unimportant flavor lead them to destruction. They are willing to turn their back on God, to disparage his holy name, to damage their actual lives because they want a new taste in their mouths and they just cannot wait for the promises of the Lord to be fulfilled.
And as we want to look down on these people for their folly, we have to ask where we face our own onion rebellion. Where do you turn your back on God for the fulfillment of drives and desires that are actually not worth it? WE do this in so many ways.
Food is one example. We know what is healthy and safe to eat. We know what eating too much unhealthy food does to us. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, back problems, poor self-image, all these can be contributed to by our making foolish choices regarding what we eat. We know this. WE have seen the science. We have had the teachers tell us this in school And yet, when we have a craving, what do many people do? Many throw wisdom and insight out the window and wreck their health for something that gives a brief moment of pleasure.
How about in marriages? Think of the destructive things people do, things they know are wrong, hoping for a flash of pleasure. A husband gives into the temptation to watch porn on the Internet. A wife gives into the pleasure of flirting with a coworker. Neither one, if you sat them down in an honest conversation, would tell you that they really, thoughtfully, truthfully believe that their actions are going to lead to good. They know that their pleasures, their drives, their hungers actually lead them to pain. But they give in anyway.
Friends, Let’s not be onion rebellion kind of people. Let us seek the Lord and plead with him for the ability to take hold of our desires and our drives. There are things that might give us temporary pleasure and lead to our hurt. There are things that might give us temporary pleasure, but lead to our damnation. Pray. Ask God to help you have the strength to say no to your desire for things that mean nothing in the eternal scheme of things. Do not turn your back on God because you want a sexual rush, a moment of telling someone off, the good opinion of someone you barely know, a bit more money, or the taste of food for just a moment. Do not be like the people who walk away from God because they miss the onions in Egypt.
A Mixed Bag of Thoughts
I honestly do not know how to shape things from today’s reading into a single, coherent, devotional thought. Yet there are big thoughts from the Lord to see in Deuteronomy 4.
Deuteronomy 4:2 – You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.
Verse 2 caught my attention, because it is so very familiar, and yet it is not where I expected to find it. I know that the Proverbs and the book of Revelation have verses that warn against adding to or taking from or changing the word of God. But I had honestly forgotten that the same command happens right here at the end of the ministry of Moses. And because it feels new to me, it helps me to stop and realize the significant point that the Lord is making in his word time-and-time again.
God has given us his word. God has given us his commands. His word is solid and sure. To add to his word, take from his word, change his word, manipulate his word, ignore his word, or battle against his word is to sin against the Lord. His word is how we know him. His word is how we serve him. His word is central to any relationship with God.
So, first, we must ask if we truly understand the unfathomable gift of the word of God. The Bible is God allowing us to know him and to obey him. Do we treasure his word enough? Do we learn it? Do we keep it? O may we not allow our own minds, our own best guesses, our own sinfully tainted hearts develop for us our view of the Lord. Instead, may we keep his word.
Deuteronomy 4:9-13 – 9 “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— 10 how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ 11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13 And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.
As Moses reminds the Israelites of the things they have experienced, the revelation of God at Mt. Sinai 38 years before, he says something that grabs my heart today. The Lord revealed himself to his people and he commands them to remember. The Lord calls on the present generation not to turn up their noses at the things they learned as children, at the things their parents saw as adults, at the things which shook their souls to their core as they realized they stood in the presence of a holy God.
Consider the command of verse 9: keep your soul diligently. God calls on his people to battle to keep our souls. This is no argument against a New Testament doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Rather, it is the means by which we participate in that doctrine. The Lord keeps his own. But the Lord commands his own to keep their souls.
We face a hard world full of skeptics, critics, and temptations. It is so very easy for us to let the sinful thoughts and evil practices of the world seep into our souls. Eventually, if we are not diligent, we will find that our thinking is turned away from the Lord. We will find that our hearts grow cold against the Lord. We will find that our desires are no longer those of the Lord. We must fight. Yes, God will keep his own. Yes, God’s Spirit in us will preserve us. Yes, God will move us. But we must pray, repent, love his word, and battle to keep our souls in these evil days.
And, finally in this section, notice the word “commanded” in verse 13. As God leads Moses to point the people to the Ten Commandments, the terms of his covenant with national Israel, God says that he commanded them to keep those words. Please note that God did not grovel to persuade Israel. God did not beg or plead. Instead, God identified himself as the Lord. God showed them he is God, the Creator and Ruler of all. And God commanded the people to obey his word. He commanded repentance. He commanded obedience.
I wonder, in our day, if we are preaching strongly enough that repentance is not simply a persuasive option we are to hold out to others. I wonder if we are spending time trying to get people to like God enough to maybe give him their time. I wonder if we are acting as though God is having a sale and they should at least drop by and check out the prices. No! This is not the way of the Lord. God is God. God is Lord. God commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). We are not to turn to God based on emotion or our liking of his offer—though it is great if we do. Rather, we are to bow to our God as Lord and submit to his authority as the God over all.
Worship in Reverence and Awe
The tendency in modern churches and modern worship is toward the casual. Churches emphasize their casual, laid-back atmosphere. Groups shape their services not to cause discomfort for those who are outside of the faith. Believers think and speak of God as one might speak of a neighbor or grandpa.
The modern shift toward the casual is understandable in a way, but our actions have grown far from the source. We have learned to reject the notion of requiring a shirt and tie to enter the building. WE have learned to welcome the downtrodden, and that forces a relaxing of dress codes and such. WE have walked away from a false rigidity in how we think of the service so that children are no longer receiving a thump on the ear if they accidentally swing their feet or wiggle in their seat.
But, dear Christian friends, there ought be nothing casual about worship. I’m not here saying that we are to be joyless, but we are not to be casual. God is bigger than all that. God is holier than to deserve our second-rate attentions or our leftover time. God’s holiness demands a reverence that modern folks may no longer know how to give.
Consider Hebrews 12. In that chapter, the author has called his readers to holy living. He called the church to battle sin, to keep marriages pure, to live holy lives in their present world. This is a common message. But watch the way that the author then aims the reader at the holiness of God and our proper response.
Hebrews 12:18-21 – 18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”
First, the author sets the stage. WE have not come to Mount Sinai as did the Israelites in the Exodus. That scene was terrifying, so scary that the people could not handle it. The mountain shook. The cloud descended. The people begged Moses not to let God speak again, for his holy voice shook them to their core. And Moses and the land, and the mountain, and the people quaked at the thought of being near the holy presence of God.
But the author is saying that such a mountain is not what we have come to. If you know the book of Hebrews, you should already be able to anticipate what is next. It will not be a minimizing of the holiness of God. Instead, the comparison from Moses to Jesus is always one of the lesser to the greater.
Hebrews 12:22-24 – 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
And here it is. You have not approached the old covenant at Mount Sinai. We are approaching something greater. Instead of a mountain smoking to conceal the presence of the Lord, we are approaching the real heavenly city. The Father, the Son, the angels are all there.
How should our response to this change? If the modern Christian is right, our response would include less fear, less trembling, less formality, more casualness, more light-heartedness. Is this the way the Scripture speaks?
Hebrews 12:25-29 – 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
God will shake more than the mountains. He will shake the universe. If Moses trembled, how much more should we? The danger of refusing the will of this God is clear.
But I want us to specifically notice the way that this impacts worship. In verses 28-29, the author tells us, “and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Reverence and awe are to be what characterizes our worship. That is not a ra-ra rock concert feel under anyone’s definition who is paying attention. Reverence and awe are not the product of light shows, smoke machines, and cheap U2 guitar rip-offs. Nor are reverence and awe the characteristics of services that are shaped to appeal to those who do not know Christ, who do not love the Lord, and whose feelings we do not want to hurt by using too much Scripture. God is a consuming fire, and we would never approach a consuming fire flippantly, casually, or carelessly.
Friends, I believe there is a balance to be had here. I’m not trying to suggest that we not enjoy our time together in our services. We gather as family. Such gatherings should be full of joy, of love, of laughter, of comfort. But I wonder if we moderns are missing the reverence and awe. I wonder if choosing music that sounds just like the stuff on the radio—light-hearted, shallow, simple—music that is no different than our day-to-day, prevents us from the awe that should come from us as we sing the holiness of God. I wonder if the common practices of seeking sermons that give us basic life hacks on parenting, fear, depression, or whatever are just far too shallow when compared to opening the Scripture to present the depths of doctrine and the glories of God.
Ultimately, the word of God calls us to come before our Lord in the freedom and confidence of Christ. But the word also calls us to worship the Lord in holiness, with awe and reverence. The one we approach is not our next-door neighbor. The one we approach is not a politician we do not respect. The one we approach is not our grandpa. Yes, God is our heavenly Father. But we need to remember that our culture no longer understands father as a respected leader as did cultures of the past. God loves us. God welcomes us. But the God who loves us, welcomes us, comforts us, heals us, encourages us, forgives us, that God is holy, pure, a consuming fire. That God is the God who shook the mountain so that the people begged not to hear his terrifying voice. That God is the God in whose presence Isaiah feared he would disintegrate. That God is the God who is so blazing in his glory that angels cover their faces with their wings in respectful adoration. And so we approach that God in love and under grace even as we approach him in reverence and awe.
The Necessity of Church Attendance
A believer cannot obey God without being a part of a local church. Stop, read that again. It is impossible for you or me to obey God without being an active, regular, present part of a local church. [As a disclaimer, I’m not aiming here at a person who has no local church near him to attend.]
Hebrews 10:24-25 – 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews has spent ten chapters pointing to the glory of Jesus. Jesus is our great high priest, much greater than Moses or the Levitical priesthood. Jesus is kind and understanding. He made a single sacrifice for sins, just one, and the sacrificial system is at an end. He opened the way for the people of God to freely enter the presence of God.
It is in the light of such glorious things that the author of the letter then tells the church that they are to do certain things. Look at the passage in context.
Hebrews 10:19-25 – 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
See all the “since” statements. Since Jesus has done all he has done and since Jesus is who he is, we are to respond in certain ways. We are to draw near to God (v 23). Would anybody rightly argue that a Christian can be what he is supposed to be without drawing near to God? We are to hold fast to the confession of our faith (v 24). Would anyone argue that someone can be a faithful Christian who does not hold fast his confession? And we are to spur one another on toward love and good deeds (v 24). And again, I point out that no Christian can be what we are supposed to be without obeying this command.
But how are we to obey the command to spur one another toward love and good deeds? The author makes it plain. WE do this, not by giving up meeting together. Instead, we spur one another on by continuing to meet together and encouraging one another (v 25).
So, let me say it again in case you think I’m not clear enough. If you have the physical capacity to attend a local church, you must do so in order to be obedient to the word of God. For a believer to be obedient, he or she must encourage other believers as we meet together. This is part of faithful, biblical Christianity.
Now, let’s consider what is now the common practice of American Christians. I’ll not try to prove the statistics, but you can look them up easily. American Christians tend to attend church around 2 to 3 Sunday’s per month. There are 4 Sundays in a month. Thus, there are many who claim to follow Christ who make it a regular habit of refusing to worship with other believers at least twice per month. This is disobedience to the word of God, plain and simple.
OK, we do not do each other any good by sitting here and bemoaning the state of American Christianity. We do no good by talking about denominations where 2/3 of church members could not be found on any given Sunday even by the combined efforts of the FBI, CIA, and NSA. Instead, let’s talk about you and me. Instead of worrying what others should or should not do, ask yourself if you are being what God calls you to be?
God says to you, believer in the Lord Jesus, to make sure that you are regularly encouraging other Christians. How do you do that? You do not give up meeting together with them. You keep showing up. You show up when you feel like it. You show up when you do not feel like it. You show up when you could have done something else. You show up when it is raining. You show up when it snows. You show up when it is hot. You show up when it is beautiful at the lake. You show up to take part in the worship of Christ and the encouraging of believers.
Again, I’m not here writing about the person who would have to walk 75 miles through mine fields just to attend a service. Nor am I putting guilt on the shoulders of a mom who has to sit at home with a little one running a fever. Nor is this supposed to hurt the heart of an aged saint who cannot leave the house. But, hear me, if you are an able-bodied believer who has a local church nearby where the gospel is preached, go. It should feel utterly foreign to you to let a Sunday go by without being gathered together with people of God you know and love for the sake of worship and encouragement.
“Ah,” you say, “but none of the churches near me see the doctrines of the Bible as perfectly as I do. So Obviously, I cannot attend any of them.” While it is possible that a believer is in a setting where there are simply no churches nearby of any sort of faithfulness, the more likely truth is that the person making such a claim is thinking far too highly of himself and his discernment. Go and love people. Go and encourage people. Who knows, you may actually become part of the solution to the problems you see. Or you might find out that some of the things you are elevating to 1st level issues are actually not.
Let’s not worry about all the what ifs that could arise here. Instead, let’s strive to be obedient. If you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, regular gathering together with the people of God should be normal. Absenting yourself from such a gathering should feel as weird to you as RUNNING OUT OF THE HOUSE WITH your shoes on the wrong feet. Sure, you may have to do so in an emergency, but it will feel wrong and you will correct the problem as soon as you can.
Hebrews 10:24-25 – 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
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Did Sacrifices Work?
In the book of Leviticus, the Lord set forth for the people a system of sacrifice, offerings for a variety of purposes. When the people sinned against the Lord, he gave them particular things to do in order to be forgiven. And the forgiveness of sin never came about without the death of an animal. A substitute was put to death in the place of the sinful person. And, hopefully, the people saw that sin is an ugly, bloody, deadly business.
And some might wonder why this would work. Why would God allow the blood of an animal to be shed in place of the blood of a sinful person who, according to God’s own law, ought to die for his own sin? How can a bull or a goat or a lamb or a bird be enough to take away my guilt?
Hebrews 10:4 – For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Then we read the book of Hebrews, and we see that it is impossible that the blood of such animals could take away sin. There is no way that a bull’s blood is sufficient payment for the wrongs that I have committed before the Lord. There is no way that a sheep’s life can substitute for my own, not really. There is no way that a finite animal could ever make up for my falling infinitely short of God’s perfection.
So, obviously the offerings didn’t work, right?
Leviticus 4:20 – Thus shall he do with the bull. As he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this. And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.
Note that last phrase, “they shall be forgiven.” Moses did not tell the priests that the offering would not work. In fact, he makes it clear that the sacrifice, the blood, the transference of guilt, the substitution, all of it would lead to forgiveness. This was not a pretend forgiveness. God said they would be forgiven of their sin if they went through this system.
So, what gives? How do we understand the sacrifice? Hebrews says that the blood of the animal is not enough. Leviticus says they will be forgiven.
Romans 3:23-26 – 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Look at Paul’s explanation for a few of the reasons for the death of Jesus on the cross. Paul tells us that Jesus died to accomplish something glorious. Jesus died for propitiation. He died as an offering for sins in order to take away the wrath of God and turn God’s face of favor toward the saved.
We know all that pretty much instinctively if we grew up in a gospel-preaching church. But the next phrase in verse 25 is not one many dwell on: “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” That sentence tells us another reason for the death of Jesus. It says that this, this sacrifice, this propitiation, was for a purpose. It was to prove the righteousness of God. It was to prove that God had never and would never wink at sin and just let it go. The death of Jesus was to prove that God always rightly, justly, and perfectly punishes all sin, all of it. God had, in the time before Jesus, not perfectly punished all sin. He had passed over former sins. How? He had forgiven people who had made the offerings like those in Leviticus, even though the blood of those animals and the lives of those animals were nowhere near enough to be a just and right substitute for the sins of men. Jesus died to show that God is perfectly righteous.
In verse 26, Paul further says, “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” God is just and must be just. God also desires to demonstrate his grace. The sacrifice of Jesus allows both to happen, as God is proved to be just, rightly dealing with sin with no tolerance for evil, and at the same time the one who justifies, who makes right in his sight, the one who has faith in Jesus. So God is both perfectly and totally just as he is also perfectly and justly merciful, facts proved by the blood of Jesus.
But what about those sacrifices of old? Did they work? Yes and no. The blood of those animals never took away sin. But the blood of those animals pointed to Jesus whose blood would pay the price for sins. It was as if God was reminding himself that all sins would be perfectly punished. Either the sinful man would be justly judged in hell for his sin, or he would be justly forgiven, not because of the blood of the animal, but because of the infinitely perfect sacrifice of the Son of God.
Then, were the saved in the old Testament saved by works? No, at least not by their own works. They were saved by God’s grace through faith. They believed God enough to obey his commands to make the sacrifice that would ultimately point to Jesus. They were saved, not by the action of the offering of the bull, nor by the blood of the bull, but by faith in the God of the promise who commanded the offering of the bull, the offering that points all to Jesus.
Unclean
Some words just stand out. In a read through Leviticus, the word unclean is a big one. It shows up time and time again. In chapter 15, we see all sorts of things that can make you unclean. Honestly, the whole book hammers that point. Touch the wrong kind of animal, unclean. Get the wrong kind of rash, unclean. Touch something dead, unclean. Get a kind of sore, unclean. Get mold in your house, unclean. Eat the wrong kind of food, unclean.
Leviticus 15:31 “Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”
And it looks like the whole unclean thing is a big deal. You could die in your uncleanness by defiling the tabernacle. This is a dangerous thing.
Looking at all this, we want to say, “Man, it looks like anything, even little things, make us unclean.” You want to say, “it looks like I am almost always unclean, always in danger of judgment.” And if you see that, you’re seeing the point.
One of the key reasons for the law in the Old Testament is to demonstrate to humanity just how much we need someone to rescue us. In Genesis 3, after the fall of man, God promised that he would send someone special into the world to crush the devil. In Genesis 12, God told Abram that one of his own offspring would be the one to bless the whole world. All of Genesis kept showing us God preserve that promise, keeping it alive though it was threatened. In Exodus, we saw God keep the promise alive by preserving the nation from the attacks of the Egyptians. Later we saw in Exodus that God also preserved the nation by preventing them from destroying themselves, and thus God kept the promise alive.
Here in Leviticus, we see how desperate the situation really is. We are by nature an unclean people. WE do evil things that make us unclean. We live in a fallen world that makes us unclean. We touch things that make us unclean. Our own bodies make us unclean. And we see that we need atonement, or we are without hope.
Why are we so without hope? God is clean. God is pure. God is holy. And We have no chance at all to be clean on our own. Everything around us and everything in us seems to be conspiring to make us unclean. So if God does not make a way to make us clean, we are dead.
Part of the problem with the way that the world around us views religion is that we no longer have any concept of the unclean. We have, as a society, redefined sin to be the things that society disapproves of. We tend to only think of sin as things we can see hurt others in a measurable way: murder, rape, abuse, theft, bullying, racism, etc. But we have forgotten that to fail to live up to God’s standard of purity, of cleanness, that is also sin, deadly sin. And we do not, we cannot, live up to that standard. We are not good enough. WE can never be good enough.
What makes the Old Testament law beautiful? It points us to our need for a Savior. It shows us that God made a way of providing for our being made clean. It showed us that God would open the door for our sin to be atoned for. It, in short, points us to Jesus.
What makes the Bible beautiful? God promised to send someone to rescue people from all our evil, our self-destruction, our uncleanness. Then God sent Jesus, God’s own Son, to earth to do the job. Jesus lived clean—nobody else ever did. Jesus died and suffered the punishment for our sins. Jesus rose from the grave and proved that his work was done. Jesus tells us to let go of controlling our lives, to surrender to him, to turn from sin and to trust in him for life. Jesus brings us salvation by grace through faith in him. And when Jesus gives us new life, salvation, and forgiveness, he also gives to us the cleanness to enter the presence of God, a cleanness that we could never have gained on our own.
2 Corinthians 5:21 – For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As you read Leviticus, as you see, unclean, unclean, unclean, let it lead you to two things. Let the word of God remind you that you are not clean, no matter how good you think you are, if you are left to yourself. WE are unclean by nature and by choice. Then let the word of God remind you that Jesus came to make us clean, forgiven, and acceptable to God.
A Life and Death Issue
In Leviticus 8, we get a whole chapter 36 verses, around a thousand words, about the ordination of Aaron and his sons as the priests in Israel. We see offerings, blood, sacred meals, washings, and all the sorts of things we see regularly in Leviticus. But before we shut off our brains and let it all slide by, we ought to see the words that Moses spoke to his brother as the process was coming to a conclusion, because those words teach us about our own need.
Leviticus 8:34-35 – 34 As has been done today, the Lord has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. 35 At the entrance of the tent of meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days, performing what the Lord has charged, so that you do not die, for so I have been commanded.”
The process spelled out took a week. And Aaron had to do it all. Why? Why was this so important to Aaron? He needed to do this stuff, and do it rightly, to be protected. If Aaron was going to minister in the presence of God, touching the holy things of God, he had to be under God’s protection. If not, he and his sons would die. This is why Aaron had to take this so seriously. A mistake here led to death.
In that truth is a picture of the gospel for you and me. We must remember that none of us qualify to enter the presence of God. That means, dear friends, that because of our sin, none of us qualify for heaven. Not one of us could survive the presence of God, at least not in our natural state.
God made Aaron go through a week long ordination process full of sacrifices and other ceremonies to show how big the gap is between Aaron’s goodness and the cleanness required to enter the presence of God. And in truth, God let Aaron off easy. The gap between Aaron’s goodness and that of God is infinite. In truth, Aaron could have washed for a million years and still not made up for his sin against God in the past. But God was gracious, allowing the sacrifices to atone for Aaron’s guilt. God chose to grant Aaron a grace that would allow him to be in God’s presence.
Do you see the gospel here? You and I need to be able to be in the presence of God if we are to go to heaven. If we want to live, we must be covered by the grace of God. But God has also made it clear that we cannot make any animal sacrifice to pay for our sins. Nor can we do enough good in our lives to make up for even one sin against God in his holiness.
But God made the way. God sent Jesus, God the Son, to be our sacrifice for sins. God also grants righteousness to his people, not for their doing good, but in response to faith in Christ. The good news is that, though we could never cover over our sins or make ourselves good enough to live in the presence of God, Jesus, through his life, death, and resurrection, covers all our need. Turning from sin and entrusting our souls to the care of Jesus in faith leads to our being fully forgiven by God. Turning to Jesus leads to God counting us as righteous because of the righteousness of Christ. This is the only way for us to be saved.
Aaron had to go through the bloody ordination process so as not to die when he got near the presence of God. We have a bloody sacrifice that was made on our behalf too, a sacrifice of infinitely more worth than that which allowed Aaron to serve. The Son of God has died to save the souls of all who will come to him. May we not fail to see how great such a sacrifice is. May we see, even in the priestly office of Aaron and his ordination a glimpse of our desperate need for Jesus.
A Reminder of the Image of God
What makes any human being valuable? That question is at the heart of any person’s actual worldview. Depending on how you view the world, your answer to that question will be vastly different. If you believe that all we are is matter that has fallen together and developed by chance, where is the value in a human life? If you believe that the universe is in itself an organism, and humans are merely cells in the body, why would they be worth any more than a kitten or a rock?
But the Bible has always shown us an answer to the question of the value of life that is far clearer, far more consistent with morality, far more helpful as we look at the world. The Bible reminds us that every person in the world has value, high value, simply by being human.
Now, before even looking at a verse of Scripture, think about this question: Why is it wrong to oppress the poor? If you are an atheist, what reason do you have that it is a moral wrong to enslave or abuse people for your personal benefit? You might say that it harms society as a whole by shredding the understood social contract. You might say that it is counter-productive in the long run to us as individuals to hurt others. But what makes it wrong? What makes it more than just unhelpful, bad business strategy? What makes it wrong to abuse other human beings if you have the strength to do it and get away with it?
Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
In this little proverb, we see the Bible stand in opposition to the oppression of the poor. And The reason that the Bible shows us that it is wrong to oppress the weak and needy has nothing to do with social contracts or pragmatism. It is wrong to oppress other human beings because other human beings have been made by God. To intentionally hurt or use people is to attack the Lord God who made them.
Remember that in Genesis 1:27, we saw that God made mankind in his image. We exist to display the glory of God. WE are here on earth as little pictures of the fact that there is a God who made us. For us to attack and do harm to humans, then, is for us to attack the very image of God. For us to use and oppress other humans is for us to attempt to do harm to the image of God. When we attack people, we attack God. This is not because people are divine, but because people exist in the divine image.
The point here is not to say that all soldiers and police officers cannot use force to protect. In fact, the Bible is clear that such people have been authorized by God to use force to protect the innocent who are created in God’s image. In Genesis 9, God told Noah that murderers would receive death for attempting to destroy the image of God.
The point is that God values his image. To intentionally oppress or abuse people is wrong because people exist in the image of God. WE protect human life and move to increase human flourishing because people exist in the image of the Creator. We act to limit cruelty and atrocities because all human life has value. We strive to move people away from immorality and toward obedience to the Lord because we desire their good, their protection, and their salvation by God’s grace through faith in Christ. WE value people, all people—old people, young people, rich people, poor people, white people, black people, brown people, any color of people, people with accents, people who talk like us, people who love us, people who oppose us—we value all people because all people exist in the image of God. That worldview truth gives true and consistent rationale for why we protect people, it is for the glory of God.
Do Something
I’ve never been a fan of those books that try to develop leadership lessons from the bible. A book that tells me that I can uncover the secret management strategies of Jesus is not going to be one that impresses me. God’s word is about far more serious things than all that.
At the same time, the book of Proverbs has for us some of those timeless life lessons that we need to know to survive. There are things in that book that people three thousand years later think they have come up with about living a meaningful and productive life.
Proverbs 14:23
In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.
Look at the antithetical, the opposite-looking, parallel lines of that verse for a major and simple life lesson. There is value in work. There is value that comes from taking action. Good leaders know this. Good leaders know that movement in a life or in an organization is often what is needed. Movement in any direction, even a failure or two, is far better than stagnation.
The second line contrasts to show us the point of the first. Toil is compared to mere talk. Just talking about a problem or a strategy does nothing. Eventually, talking without work leads to poverty. Multiple meetings, multiple strategy session, developing new plans, new mission statements, and new goals is useless if not accompanied by actual action.
Of course Solomon is not against planning. Other proverbs are clear about that. But Solomon is against talking yourself to death without doing something. Planning is good. But nothing happens if nothing happens. We do nothing unless we do something.
Think about your life and things that need to happen. Do you need to develop a plan for family worship and devotions? Do you need to reach out to neighbors with the gospel? Do you need to get physically healthier? Do you need to find a job. Plan a little. Think a little. Talk about it a little with someone. But the key in most of those kinds of things is doing something. Do something, even if it is the wrong thing. Risk failing. Just fail forward.
You know, of course, that you as an individual are not likely to be strong enough to move a thousand pound automobile. If you want a car’s direction to change, you do not turn it while it is sitting still. But when it is moving, you can steer. That is true in life too. Talking and talking with no action may change nothing. Sometimes the best thing to do is start rolling, see where your action is carrying you, and then steer.
Perhaps what would be good for you here is to stop and talk to God for a moment. Ask the Lord where you need to stop worrying, stop planning, stop talking, and start acting. Ask the Lord where in your life it is time to move instead of being paralyzed by indecision. Ask that about yourself, your family, and your church. Let’s be a people who think well, who plan well, and who discuss well. But let’s not be a people who only plan and never act.
Responding to Insults
We live in an insulting culture. Social media is full of people sniping at one another from anonymous accounts. Politicians hurl invective after invective at one another. Even the news media is quick to insult or to publish insults. And the atrocity that is daytime television has thrived for decades on letting people watch foolish people snap at each other.
But what is a wise response to the insult-driven culture we live in? How are we to react? It is not hard to understand.
Proverbs 12:16
The vexation of a fool is known at once,
but the prudent ignores an insult.
It’s not hard to understand, but it is hard to do. A fool shows his or her annoyance at an insult at once. Anger flairs. A retort flies. But the word of God tells us that the wise course is not to allow offense at the first moment of insult. Instead, wisdom is what people’s moms used to tell them all the time: Just ignore it.
The wise person lets an insult go. Why? There is nothing to be gained for us by jumping into the fray. When we are insulted, what do we think to accomplish by engaging the insult? Do we think we will give back a better insult? That is not honoring to the Lord or helpful in society. Do we think we will show the one insulting us the error of their ways? If we are angry or offended, our response will not be effective. Do we think we are going to call those nasty anonymous Twitter folks to account? If they cared about righteousness, they would not be tweeting insults from behind the safe cover of a keyboard and a fake screen name.
In truth, we respond to insults most often because of personal pride. How dare you say that about me? How dare you not see me as great as I see myself? How dare you besmirch my reputation? But the truth is, we have no reason to let this be an issue. Insulting words are just that, words. To allow words to stoke a fire in you that requires you to react is a mistake on your part. It is unwise. It is damaging. The far more mature response is to see the insulting words of many as the hollow things they are.
Now, I understand that there may be times when you face the wounds of someone who is a friend. In those situations, you may have to go to them, talk it through, and come to a point of reconciliation. That makes sense. There is nothing wrong with sitting down with a friend and telling them, “I was hurt by what you said.” Maybe you will find they meant it a different way. Maybe you will find that there are real things in your life you need to work on. Maybe you will find that they simply got carried away. Maybe you will find that they are not as close a friend as you think.
But sitting down with a friend and calmly talking through how their words affected you is not nearly the same as showing your vexation from the beginning. Nor is it the same as screaming out a demand for an apology or trying to return insult for insult. May we be wise enough to know that jumping into the insult game will make us look foolish. Learning to ignore words that do not matter used to be a part of growing up in a mature society. Perhaps our culture has not learned this lesson, but we who know the Lord should learn it for ourselves.
Pastor Travis Peterson 