The Lord keeps his promises. Do you like this truth? Does it excite you to know that all the promises of God will ultimately be fulfilled? Before you allow yourself to be excited by those promises, remember that not every promise of God is a promise of soft living and easy futures.
As I came across the end of the book of Leviticus, I was reminded of some promises of God that not everybody keeps in their memory verse lists. Leviticus 26 contains many a promise of God. The early verses of the chapter contain many of the promises that prosperity preachers misuse, taking them out of their original context to apply them as blanket declarations of goodness for the people of God. But, a look at Leviticus 26 shows us that God was communicating with Israel that the blessings he was promising there were for the nation if it would obey his commands.
But, the vast majority of Leviticus 26 is not full of promises of goodness. Instead, the majority of the chapter is made up of the promised judgments of God on his people for when they, as a nation, refused to obey the laws that God had just given in the book. God knew that Israel would disobey. God knew that some of his laws would never be kept, not even once. And God told Israel exactly what would come to pass when they refused to obey him.
Here is one example.
Leviticus 26:34-35 – 34 “Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it.
God knew that Israel would never obey the command to allow the land to rest for the Sabbath years. So, God told Israel what would come. If the land would not get its Sabbaths because the people obeyed, God would drive his people out of their promised land until the land got the rest that God had ordered back in Leviticus25.
Of course, if you know the history of the nation, they went captive to Babylon. Judah was captured and carried away from the land for seventy years. Why seventy years?
2 Chronicles 36:20-21 – 20 He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
Judah was captured for seventy years because they had refused to give the land seventy Sabbaths of rest. God perfectly and accurately kept his promises.
Why would God give the Sabbath rest command if he knew Israel and Judah would not keep it? The law was given, not to save the people, but to help them recognize their great need of a Savior. Israel failed to obey. They drew down upon themselves the promises of judgment. The Old Testament illustrates that and helps us to see that God will keep all his promises and that, if we are going to be under his grace, it will not be because we earn it through obedience. Human beings are naturally disobedient. This is why we all need a Savior to fulfill the provisions of the law on our behalf.
So, are you glad God keeps his promises? It probably will ultimately depend on whether or not you are in a saving relationship with God. If you are forgiven in Christ, rejoice over God’s faithfulness. God promises salvation by grace alone through faith alone for all who trust in Christ alone. For such a person, there is great comfort in the fact that God keeps his word.
But, for the one who is opposing the Lord, please understand that God will keep all the promises he ever made about our judgment too. God is not faithful to promises of grace and yet unfaithful to promises of wrath. We must be under his grace or face his righteous retribution for rebelling against the Lord, our Maker.
Keeping Up Appearances in Church
It is often wise for us to consider what lies behind an action that we or others take. Quite often, the things we do, the right or wrong things we do, are symptoms of something much deeper in our hearts. Like the fruit on the branches of a tree, our behaviors come from deep down, at the roots of our hearts.
What has my attention as I write this is our behavior in the church. How often do we, if we are not careful, try to shape our actions in the local church to make ourselves look good? Because of the nature of the local church, the community structure, we can sometimes look at the church as a place to get ahead. Some like being a big fish in the small pond of the local body, and we try to get there by acting more spiritual than we really are.
Think of the different tactics we might use. We might pretend to sacrifice more than we are really sacrificing. We might pretend to be more spiritually rich than we really are. We might pretend to be doing well when we are really hurting deeply. We will put on all sorts of masks to try to get others to think we are stronger than we are, more disciplined than we are, or more sanctified than we are.
Sometimes the deception is active, intentionally pretending something you are not. Sometimes the deception is more passive, simply holding back from telling others the truth. But either way, deceiving others in the body, putting on airs, is not wise.
Back in the early church, as growth was taking place in Jerusalem, there was a couple who decided to take an active role in making themselves look spiritual. Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property and lied to the church about how much money they got from it. They wanted to pretend that they were giving to the church all of the profits of the sale, when in fact, they were holding back some funds for themselves. If you know the story, you also know that this led to the death of the couple, God striking them down for their actions.
Acts 5: 4-5 – 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.
Here is what is fascinating. In Peter’s words to Ananias, we see the problem. God was not upset that the couple did not want to give 100% of the profits. It would have been fine for them not to sell their land. It would have been fine for them to sell and say, “Here is 75% of what we got.” But what was not fine was for them to pretend they were giving more than they really were. The couple wanted to make themselves look good in the sight of others in the church, and they were dishonest in the process. They lied in their actions, being dishonest before God, and it cost them their lives.
And this all makes me wonder, how close do we come to being like Ananias and Sapphira? When we put on a false face of spiritual maturity when we lack it, are we not lying in much the same way? When we pretend to have given our all in some spiritual activity, but we really barely limped through, are we not lying like this couple? When we pretend to be different than we really are so that others in the church will think we are stronger than we really are, how different is that from Ananias and Sapphira?
Maybe it would be wise for us to consider the dangerous life of honesty, even in the local church. No, I’m not suggesting that every person in the body has to know every detail of your emotions. But, I wonder how much different we would be if being true to the Lord was our first priority instead of being seen by others as good, strong, or as having it together. May we tell the truth. When we are doing well, be honest. When we are doing well, do not exaggerate it. When we are struggling, be honest without exaggeration. When we need someone to pray for us because we hurt, why not say so instead of keeping it quiet? When we present a false face because we want to look better in the eyes of other people, we walk a dangerous line, one that I would bet Ananias and Sapphira would prefer not to have walked.
Why the Food Laws?
We have as a people a potentially unhealthy fascination with the motivation of God behind his laws. Many preachers and commentators will go well beyond the boundaries of faithful, biblical interpretation to tell us exactly what was in God’s mind as he gave a certain command. If we are not careful, we will develop an attitude that says to the Lord, “If I can understand why you gave this command, I will obey it. But, if not, I’ll do what I like.”
Take, for example, the way we often try to handle the food laws. In Leviticus 11, we come across the laws relating to clean and unclean animals. Of course, the concept of clean and unclean animals has been in biblical thought from long before the time of Moses. Noah carried different numbers of clean and unclean animals on the ark. But here, we see God instruct the nation and especially the priests with great specificity.
The rules are not terribly complicated. The people can eat land animals that are among the domesticated plant-eaters. They can eat fish with fins and scales, sorry, no shrimp. They can eat birds that are not birds of prey. And, they can eat insects that are hoppers, no crawlies.
Why did God make these rules and these distinctions? Why couldn’t the Israelites eat meat-eating animals? Was it because of the prohibition against eating blood? Was it about health reasons? Was it about pagan religious practices and not looking like the Canaanites?
Here is what God said about why to obey his food laws:.
Leviticus 11:45 – “For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
God basically tells the Israelites in response to any question as to why not eat pork or owls, “Because I said so.” I think we need to grasp that this is a good, significant answer. God does not need to explain himself to the nation, not at all. Neither does he need to explain himself to us. If, for a season, God told his people, “no bacon,” we need to say, “Yes, Lord.” We can also thank God that we now live in the day when God has lifted that non-baconic legislation.
Mark 7:18-19 – 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
It would be better for us, before exercising curiosity as to the potential rationale behind the commands, to see that God has the right to give such commands for no reason at all other than that he wants to. He might give those commands as a way to make Israel look different from other nations simply because he wanted them to. It could have been about health, about polemics, about blood, or about something else. But what is most important to us is that it was about the will of the Lord and his right to tell us what to do. And, he does not owe us any sort of explanation.
We must grasp that this is also true in the New Testament. For example, we can look behind the regulations for Christian living, and often we can explain why God’s rules are better for human flourishing than are the sinful ways of the world. However, we do not make the commands hang on our understanding of them for the betterment of mankind. No, the biggest reason that marriage is defined by God or that our sexuality is restricted by God or that divorce is regulated by God or that drunkenness is forbidden by God or that any other command is given by God is that God is God, holy, sovereign, and Lord over all. His rules are right and to be obeyed because he is God. His ways are by definition right because of his holiness. If we can understand the benefits of his commands, that is all well and good. If we cannot, we are still required to obey them for his glory, to distinguish ourselves from those who hate him, and to find joy in bringing honor to his name.
Are All Sins Equal?
Have you ever heard the claim that all sins are the same in the sight of God? Perhaps a parent will try to help a child see that their disobedient attitude is a big problem, and they will tell the child that their disrespect is as bad as stealing. Or, perhaps you will hear a Christian trying to prevent hateful actions toward people of certain lifestyle choices, and they will argue that one sin is just as bad as any other—we are all guilty, after all.
But should we assume that all sins are exactly equal? Does God view lying as the same as murder, petty theft as the same as child abuse, starting a quarrel at home as the same as starting a war? The problem is, we have not defined enough terms to answer this question with accuracy. There is certainly a sense in which all sins are equal. But, there is also, most certainly, a sense in which all sins are not even close to equal. And, thus, I would argue that saying with confidence that all sins are the same in God’s sight is a very bad idea.
First, let’s consider how all sins are alike. Since most Christians seem to believe that line, how are they correct? All sins are equal in the sense that all sins violate the law of God and make us guilty of rebellion against God. All sins are alike in that their proper penalty is eternal death and the wrath of God. All sins are alike in that, if they go unforgiven, they will separate us from the Lord forever.
Matthew 5:21-22- 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
James 2:10 – For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.
Romans 6:23- For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When we consider that all sin separates us from God and violates the basic duty that we have to obey and honor God, yes, all sins are the same. To disrespectfully snap at your spouse or to commit murder both treat people in ways that God has commanded against. Both say to God, “I will do things my way and not yours.” Both oppose the Lord and earn his wrath and judgment if not forgiven. And no person can claim innocence before God by pretending that they did wrong, but not the big wrong that actually ought to get them in trouble.
However, there is also a clear pattern of teaching in Scripture that all sins are not equal. This is why certain behaviors in the Old Testament law system merited a time of separation from the community while others carried the death penalty. Or, from Leviticus 4, we can see that certain sins required a different level of sacrifice and a different placement of the sacrifice’s blood than did others. Thus, we can see that God did not view the sins as exactly the same.
In Leviticus 4, we have a set of provisions regarding the sins of people with different levels of influence. If a sin was committed by a high priest (Lev. 4:1-12) or by the community as a whole (Lev. 4:13-21), the offering had to be a bull, a costly sacrifice. The blood was carried into the tent and sprinkled before the screen between the holy place and the holy of holies, getting right up next to the presence of God. The blood of this offering was also to be placed on the incense altar inside the holy place, showing the depth of the need for forgiveness.
However, if the sin was committed by a political leader (Lev. 4:22-26), his offering was to be a male goat, not the bull. If the sin was committed by a common person (Lev 4:27-35), the offering was a female goat or lamb. The blood of these offerings was to be dealt with at the altar for burnt offerings in the court of the tabernacle, not taken into the holy place. And, the priests could actually eat of the meat of these offerings, though God forbad the priests to eat of the offerings whose blood was taken into the holy place (Lev. 6:29-30).
What should we learn from the different standards for offerings in Leviticus 4? Of course, we can see that the Lord is wonderfully gracious, actually forgiving sin. We should learn that the Lord is gracious, lowering the cost of the offering for the weaker and less influential. We should see that, the more authority and influence a person has, the more damage that person can do by sinning. But we must also understand that there is something different about different sins. Sins that do more harm require different treatment.
So, are all sins the same? No, not if you are being silly enough to pretend that an angry word and murder are exactly the same thing, that one is no more significant than the other. That was not the point Jesus was making in the Sermon on the Mount, nor was it the point that James was making when he said to break the law at one point makes us guilty of it all. Different crimes require different punishments.
And, yes, all sins are the same when you realize that every sin, even the smallest, is a violation of our duty to live holy lives before the Lord. He is perfect, and his standard is perfection. For us to violate that standard makes us guilty of rebellion against the holiness of God. Such rebellion earns the wages of sin, death and hell, if we do not come under the grace of God in the perfect sacrifice and resurrection of Christ.
A Promise to Remember
When I think about the issue of the study of the end times, I find two major extremes among fellow Christians. For the most part, I will see people who are either so fascinated with the end times that they focus on almost nothing else, or I find people who have decided that end times thinking is so hard that it simply should be ignored. Neither position, however, fits a biblical point of view.
In Acts 1, Luke shares for us the account of the final earthly conversation between the resurrected Jesus and his disciples. They have all gathered atop the Mount of Olives, and Jesus makes a final promise. The disciples are curious about when Jesus is going to set up an earthly kingdom in Israel (v. 6), and Jesus tells them, basically, that this is not for them to know. Instead, Jesus told the disciples that they would receive the Holy Spirit, and they would then go and be his witnesses all throughout the world (vv. 7-8).
The entire conversation makes some sense. The disciples are expecting Jesus to continue what it looked to many like he was starting during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They think maybe he is now going to gather up followers who will be really amazed by his conquering of death. They expect him to head to Jerusalem, become king, and overthrow the Romans.
Jesus, for his part, tells them that they need to be thinking in an entirely different way. They need to be ready to receive the Spirit of God, something new and wonderful in the experience of the people of God. And, they need to be ready to go tell all kinds of people about Jesus. They need to be ready to tell the Jews, the Samaritans, and the world about him. They need to start there in the city, hit the countryside, and expand to a global mission of telling people about the risen Savior.
Then something absolutely amazing happens. Jesus ascends to heaven. He simply is lifted up from the earth and leaves this world.
Acts 1:9-11 – 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
The departure is stunning. Jesus was caught up into the air. It had to remind people, at least a little bit, of the Old Testament story of Elijah, caught up to God in a whirlwind. But this is different. There is no violent storm. Jesus goes up, is hidden by a cloud, and is gone. In the sky, the Savior crossed out of this physical world and entered heaven, the throne room of God, and remains there physically, eternally alive.
Obviously, the disciples marvel at this. They are just staring at the sky. And then, to put the proper teaching close on this event, a pair of angels stand before the disciples with last instructions. The command is for the disciples not to stand there staring at the sky. Instead, the command is to get out there and get to work. The disciples are to obey Jesus’ commands, wait for the Spirit, and then take the gospel to the nations.
However, the angels did not tell the disciples not to think about the return of Jesus. In fact, the angels made it plain that the return of Jesus is a big deal. Jesus is going to come back in just the same way that he left. Jesus will descend to earth from heaven. Jesus will come on the clouds, just as a cloud had hidden him at his departure. Jesus will physically stand again on the Mount of Olives, just as he was physically standing there before his departure. And all this is to comfort the disciples enough to press them on toward obedience.
So, what should we see? Ignoring the end times is foolish. The promise of the physical return of Jesus is critical. That promise is a promise of something to come that is the hope of the church and the fulfillment of promise.
At the same time, to become so fascinated by the end times that we only look at the skies and argue about the order of upcoming events is not helpful. The angels told the disciples that Jesus would return visibly and physically. Then they told the disciples to go and get to work.
What then should we do? We should think about the words of Scripture, because they all matter. To pretend that the prophecies surrounding the return of Jesus and the close of the age do not matter is foolish and is dishonoring to God. To be, however, so fully consumed by that topic that you hurt others by being argumentative and refuse to do the things that God calls the church to do is also foolish. May we strike the proper balance between longing for the return of the Savior and keeping our heads down and doing the work of Christian ministry. May we love thinking about what is to come as we do what needs to be done now. May we find courage to take the gospel to the nations in the fact that the Savior is going to come down from heaven one day to make all things new.
Being Amazed by the Familiar
Over the past couple of months, I did something that some folks consider to be a silly waste of time. I reread through a fiction series that I greatly enjoy. This was not, however, the second time I have worked through this five-book set. In fact, this is probably the fourth or fifth time that I have read these novels.
Think of how silly that is. I already know how the stories will end. I cannot be surprised by the twists and turns in the fight scenes. I can, from time to time, predict the dialogue that will come as familiarity prompts.
But, I keep reading. While some say they cannot rewatch a movie or reread a novel, I, for whatever reason, find it to be great. As I said in a Facebook post about this set, if you can read a book for the fourth time and still feel the same emotions you felt on your first read through, it must be a very, very good book.
I also have to confess that I almost wish that I could press a button and clear my brain’s memory of the novel. I would love to erase my knowledge of what is to come in order to allow myself to again be surprised or afraid without knowing what is coming next. I’d like to be able to laugh at the jokes as if they were the first time that I had heard them.
I also find myself wondering how great it would be to be able, just for a moment, to do the same thing with the Scripture. How neat would it be, for example, to again hear the story of Jesus for the very first time? How crazy would it feel, as an adult, to hear the words of the angel at the tomb speaking to the women?
Matthew 28:5-7 – 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
I wonder how stunned I would be to read that the women, who had just experienced the greatest in let-downs, went to the tomb on Sunday morning to perform burial rights for Jesus. Suddenly, they are met, not by the soldiers they expected, but by a shining angel from God. There is an earthquake. The stone is rolled back, the soldiers pass out. And then, the angel speaks. What message?
The angel tells the woman that he knows why they have come. They want to see Jesus’ body. But, the ladies are wrong. Jesus is not still dead. He has risen. He is alive.
Stop yourself mentally, shift gears, and think of how enormous those words are. Jesus was dead. They saw him die. They saw the blood. They saw the brutality. They saw the soldier’s spear slide up under his rib cage toward his heart. They saw the flow of fluids out that gash in his side that would kill any normal man. But he was already dead. They saw him wrapped up, carried off, and buried. And they knew this from Friday afternoon, over Saturday, and through Sunday morning. Jesus was dead.
Now, as they go to the tomb, weeping and dejected, they see an angel. That is not normal. This human-looking man wore clothes that shined like lightning. He is obviously holy, far different than any human they have ever met—well, other than Jesus. And this angel says Jesus is not here. The angel says Jesus is alive.
Consider the stunning reversal. Jesus was defeated, at least to all physical eyes. But that is reversed. He lives. He breathes. His heart beats. He is again walking around the countryside. If death cannot beat him, what possibly could?
How great would it be for us to learn this glorious truth again for the first time? It would be wonderful to gasp at the unbelievable truth that the dead Savior is now alive, that he is conquered death, that he has fully paid for our sins, and that he is ready to welcome us into his family. Every other great figure of human history died. Every other religious leader from the past is in a grave. But Jesus lives! This is stunning. This is glorious! May we let it surprise us again so that we might experience its beauty, no matter how many times we have heard the story.
The Crucifixion and Psalm 22
Many of us know the story of Jesus on the cross. We know about the crown of thorns, the mocking crowds, and the gambling soldiers. Of course, we know the things that Jesus said while on the cross.
In my read through Matthew 27, I was again struck by the way that Jesus cried to his Father. The desolation in Jesus’ words is so full, so powerful.
Have you ever put much thought, however, into the fact that Jesus is quoting Scripture from the cross?
Matthew 27:46 – And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
I know that, as a young Christian, it was a while before I realized that the words on the lips of the Savior on the cross were also the opening line of Psalm 22. It felt, at that point, like I had uncovered a secret hidden away in the Old Testament. But, a little further thought and education taught me that, no, this was not obscure. This was not something the Savior did that was mysterious and hard to grasp. Yes, some of the crowd around Jesus at the moment did not grasp what he was saying. In verse 47, they ask if he might be crying out for Elijah to come and get him. But, in truth, Jesus, while crying out in agony, also directs people to the word of God to show them that what is taking place is something God told them was coming a thousand years earlier.
For Jesus to cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” was for him to shout to the crowds a familiar reference. Imagine it this way for our culture. Imagine that, in the middle of something, I said to you, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” What would you think of? Would you start working through shepherd imagery, or would you grasp that I am giving you the opening line of Psalm 23. If I were to say in conversation, “For God so loved the world…,” you would know right away that I’m referencing John 3:16 and its surrounding texts.
So, consider that Jesus, on the cross, both cried out in his suffering, expressing his deep and genuine emotions, and he may as well have said to the crowds, “Look up Psalm 22.” Why?
Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
David, in Psalm 22, knows that he is suffering at a level that he does not understand, and he wonders why God has not yet put an end to it. The Savior, on the cross, knew why this was happening. However, nobody can possibly imagine the spiritual horror of what the Son felt as the Father poured out on him his wrath for the sins of all he would ever forgive.
Psalm 22:7-8
7 All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
David said that people were making fun of him in his sufferings, casting doubt on whether or not God was actually caring for him. Compare that with the crowds around Jesus.
Matthew 27:39-44 – 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
Psalm 22:15
my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
We recall, of course, Jesus pointing out his thirst from the cross, though that is not recorded directly in Matthew.
Matthew 27:35 – And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.
Matthew tells us about the soldiers crucifying Jesus. Though he does not describe it, we know this included piercing Jesus’ hands and feet with nails as they hanged him up. Then, the soldiers sat down, and they gambled for his garments by casting lots.
Psalm 22:16-18
16 For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
This could have been written by an eyewitness to the crucifixion, but it was written by King David a millennium earlier.
What, however, is the end of Psalm 22? It is hope in the sovereign salvation of the Lord.
See these verses from Psalm 22:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.
What is the end of Psalm 22? The end is that there is hope. The Lord will reign. He will send out a message of his power and salvation to the nations. And that, of course, is the result of the cross and resurrection.
May we see the glory of the words that Jesus spoke on the cross drawing our minds to Psalm 22. May we see the significance and sufficiency of Scripture to hear such words on the Savior’s lips as he suffered. Yes, that phrase indicates the depth of the Savior’s suffering. But, that phrase also shows us that God knew exactly what he was doing, that the crowds were missing it, and that God would use what Jesus was doing to spread his glory and grace to all nations.
The First Shout of Joy
When you think joy, what book of the Bible do you think of? New Testament Christians are pretty much preprogrammed to think of the book of Philippians and the call to rejoice in the Lord always. But, where do we see the first major rejoicing in the Scriptures?
Would it surprise you to see that the first major shout for joy in the Bible occurs in the book of Leviticus? Now, I know, there has been joy before Leviticus. I also know that there has been singing and dancing before Leviticus, so I realize that there is more to joy than what I’m about to say. But, I want to simply point out something that I found fascinating while studying Leviticus 9.
In chapter 9 of Leviticus, Moses and Aaron work through the process of the final ordination of the priests and the beginning of the Old Testament religious system. When all is completed, when the sin offerings are made along with all the rest, God shows up. God displays his glory in fire, just as he displayed his glory in fire at Mount Sinai.
Leviticus 9:23-24 – 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
In verse 24, we see that God sent forth fire to consume the offerings on the altar. When the people saw this, they “shouted and fell on their faces.” It is the word behind shout that got my attention. That word is not a cry of fear or terror, though such surely would have made sense here. No, it is a shout for joy. It is the kind of shout for joy that God repeatedly commands his people to cry out as part of worship in the Old Testament system. And this is the first time that word is used in Scripture. So, in a sense, this is the first, major, religious shout for joy.
When did it happen? When sin had been atoned for and when the presence of God was manifest, the people of God were overjoyed. When the people saw the power and the glory of God, there was such a joy that they could not contain it. They shouted for joy and fell to the ground in worship.
When we think Leviticus, therefore, we should think joy and worship. As Mark Rooker points out in his commentary on Leviticus:
“When the glory of the Lord appeared, the people responded with joy and bowed down to worship the Lord. It is significant that the first occurrence of the word “joy” in the Bible is in this context. The combination of worship with joy on this preeminent occasion and the frequent employment of the root rānan (“give a ringing cry”) in response to God indicates that the highest mood of the Old Testament religion was one of joy.”1
The mood of worship—yes, the worship in Leviticus—is joy. Why? Worship resulted in two great sources of joy. Worship brought about the forgiveness of our sins through sacrificial substitutes. And, worship brought people to a place where they could experience the glory of God. Nothing in this universe, nothing at all, can give us a greater joy than to know the Lord, be forgiven by the Lord, and experience the glory of the Lord.
So, as you work through a read through Leviticus, let joy spring forth. Every time you read that, after an offering, a person will be forgiven, rejoice. Consider what the hopelessness of life would be like if being forgiven were not an option then or now. When you see the meticulous laws about foods, garments, and cleanness, let your heart sing as you recognize hints of the absolute perfection of God. He cares about every small detail. And, as you see the blood and fire and sacrifice, let it always remind you that this is the shadow of what the Lord Jesus accomplished on behalf of his chosen ones to allow us to enter the presence of the Lord and live in fellowship with him forever.
1 Mark F. Rooker, vol. 3A, Leviticus, electronic ed., Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001, c2000), 155.
Beauty in Offerings
How do you feel when your read through the Bible plan hits Leviticus? My guess is that, for many of us, that can be met with a sigh. If we are not careful, we feel that reading Leviticus is a duty. It’s like eating some sort of vegetable that is not your favorite; it’s good for you, but you’d prefer to skip it—all things being equal.
How I wish these thoughts were not the way that we often feel as Christians. Our lack of understanding of the offerings and our lack of imagination regarding the look and feel and smell of what was going on prevents us from seeing the glory of God, the seriousness of sin, the uniqueness of biblical faith, and so much more.
I recently read through Leviticus 1-3 in my daily reading. Those three chapters of Leviticus give us the rules for 3 kinds of offerings: the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the peace offering (chapters 1, 2, and 3 respectively). In our culture, 3 chapters on 3 offerings feels like a big list of rules, things to do and to avoid that have nothing to do with us. And we fail to see the difference in the offerings.
So, let’s think together for a moment about those offerings to see just a few glories. First, consider how gracious it is that God gave these rules. Would you have been able to guess how the right way would be to make a burnt offering? Would you have known that it was your job to lay your hands on the animal’s head while the priests held it still, and then it was your job to cut the animal’s throat? Would you have known that it was your job to wash the animal while it was only the priests’ jobs to apply the animal’s blood to the altar? Would you have known how to rightly divide the animal and burn its parts? Would you have known what animals were acceptable and what animals would dishonor the Lord?
It is gracious of God to tell you the rules. He did not have to. The Lord did not have to tell people how to please him. He did not have to show us how to be forgiven. He could have left us to flounder about on our own, failing and never knowing it. He could have not allowed any sacrifices. He could have just cut us off for our sin. Leviticus 1 is full of grace.
Another consideration is the import of the 3 offerings. In chapter 1, the burnt offering has to do with our sin. In chapter 2, the grain offering is an offering of gratitude to God for his provision. In chapter 3, the peace offering, again an animal offering, was an offering of fellowship with the Lord. The offering in chapter 3 was one that the offeror would share in. People would make the sacrifice, and burn the select portions of the animal on the altar, but they would also keep parts of the animal to eat. Thus, the peace offering was symbolically sharing a meal with the Lord. See the progression: Once sin was covered, grace was evident, and we could rejoice in a new, loving and kind relationship with our God.
There is also a polemical element to these 3 chapters. Much of the offerings parallel the kinds of offerings made in pagan religions. But, The Israelites were not borrowing from those religions. Instead, the offerings are intentionally different to show the difference in the Israelite understanding of the Lord and of sin. The Israelites did not use honey or Levin in their grain offerings, contrasting with Canaanite religions. The Israelites never believed that their offerings fed their deity. But, realize that the neighboring nations believed that their gods were relying on the offerings for sustenance. Leviticus, quite subtly, shows us that the worship of the Lord is unlike anything in the neighboring nations.
And, as one last thing to mention this morning, how much does this remind us of Jesus? The animals sacrificed for sin had to be perfect, unblemished. Jesus had to be our perfect offering. The one making the offering had to lay his hands on the animal’s head, symbolically transferring his guilt to the animal. Jesus took our guilt upon himself. The sinner had to cause the death of the animal, spilling its blood as if it were guilty of his own sin. Jesus shed his blood as a sin offering for all he would ever forgive. The smoke of the burnt animal was a pleasing aroma to the Lord. That was not about physical smell, but it was about the Lord being satisfied by the offering so that he could again look upon the one making the sacrifice with favor. Only through Jesus’ sacrifice can the Lord look at us with favor. The burnt offering was totally consumed with fire. That would have looked like hell. But Jesus went through the wrath of God on our behalf so as to prevent our going to hell.
Or how about seeing Jesus in the fellowship offering. The offering was made, and it centered, at the end, around a meal. In a symbolic way, the people were eating with God. They ate the flesh of the sacrifice as a way to commune with the Lord. And what did the Lord Jesus institute on the night he was betrayed? The Lord Jesus called on his disciples and the church to follow to regularly participate in a ceremony in which we symbolically consume his flesh as an act of fellowship with him and with one another.
Friends, Leviticus is beautiful. May we learn not to turn our noses up at the repetition or at the unfamiliarity. God’s word has great value if we will but look and let ourselves see. Yes, it may cost us some study and some discipline. But the reward is very much worth it.
A Divine O No You Didn’t!
Have you ever had one of those moments where someone said something that you simply cannot believe came out of their mouth? You know what I mean. A person lets fall from their lips a nasty, unthinking, brutal insult all the while acting as if they are perfectly fine in their behavior. It’s the kind of thing that brings out of you the response, “O no you didn’t!”
I had one of those moments in this year’s read through Exodus 32. It’s a story that is moderately familiar. While Moses is up on the mountain, the people of Israel grow confused and restless. So, Moses’ brother Aaron fashions for the people a golden calf to worship instead of worshipping the God who led them out of Egypt and who commanded them, quite clearly in their hearing, never to fashion an idol to worship.
Exodus 32:4-6 – 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
The disobedience to God is one thing, stunning in itself. But the words that come out of the people’s mouths is something altogether more amazing. Israel’s leaders said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” Do you feel the insult? They shaped a cow from their melted down jewelry, and they say that this cow is who led them out of the land of Egypt.
Now, remember, this is a generation that is not even a half of a year removed from seeing the Red Sea parted as they walked through and then seeing it crash down on the Egyptian army. This is the people only a few months removed from painting blood on their door frames to tell the angel of God to pass over their homes and spare their firstborn. This is a people that, over the past year, saw God perform ten plagues that devastated a powerful nation and brought about their deliverance. And, this is a people who, only a month before, heard the voice of God tell them that they were never to fashion an idol and bow down to it.
Those people looked at a golden calf, nodded, and said, “Yep, that’s our god alright. That’s the one that led us up out of Egypt.” How should the Lord respond? Do you not hear in your soul the divine, “O no you didn’t!”
Then, Aaron actually adds to the mess. He builds an altar, proclaims a celebration, and says to the people in reference to the calf he just had fashioned out of melted jewelry, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” Do you see that last phrase? He said “to the Lord.” Aaron is taking a thing that God has strictly forbidden. This is something made #2 on his all-time top ten don’t do this list, a list God just spoke in the people’s hearing. Aaron is deciding that he can ignore and change the rules to worship in whatever fashion and by whatever definition he wants. He says this is a celebration to the Lord, the very Lord he is defying. And, again, I hear, “O no you didn’t!”
As you might imagine, this incident displeased the Lord, and it leads to the judgment of God on the people. It most certainly should have. How dare a people give something credit for doing what the Lord has done? How dare the people hear the requirements of God, shake them off, do the opposite, and then pretend that such must be acceptable to God? How dare they dance around a golden statue that they knew was forbidden to them and act as though they were performing an act of service to God?
And it is at this point that I have to ask myself where I do the same things. No, I don’t fashion statues and dance around them. But, are there times in my life where I hear the commands of God, know his standards, and flat turn against them to do things in my own way? Are there places where I know what God has done, and somehow I give credit for those things to myself or to someone or something else? How dare I ever give credit to a creation that only belongs to the Creator? How dare I value anything, any object, any possession, or any person above the One who made me and sent his Son to rescue me? How dare I sin to get something I want or sin if I do not have things the way that I want? I’m so easily tempted to act just like the people of Israel, just without the gold and the party.
May we examine ourselves closely today. May we remember that the Lord is our Creator, and he has every right to own our lives and our souls. May we obey his word for his glory. May we not think even for a minute that anything is as valuable as he is. May we not ever do the opposite of his commands and pretend we are honoring him in the process. May we not ever deserve a divine “O no you didn’t!”
Pastor Travis Peterson 