The Attributes of God:

Approaching God on His Terms Numbers 1-5 “But they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”                   From the beginning of creation and the placement of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, humanity has sought to define our relationship with God.  There is deep within us a desire and need to have a relationship with God, but we want to determine the relationship and want it to be on our terms.  The sin of Adam and Eve was not just a simple mistake or a simple act of disobedience.  It was an insidious attempt to overthrow God’s authority so that we could control Him.  In his classic work,  The Existence and Attributes of God , Stephen Charnock points out, “This self-love and desire of independence of God has been the root of all sin in the world.  The great controversy between God and man has been whe...

God’s Disciple and His Blessings Leviticus 26-27 “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands….I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.  I am the Lord your God.”                   Adversity is never pleasant.  When life becomes challenging, we often question God’s love and His care for us.  However, in Scripture, we find two reasons God brings adversity into our lives.  First, He brings trials into our lives to strengthen our faith. In James 1:2-4 we read, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  Second, In Hebrews 12:6, God disciplines those He loves.  He brings adversity to correct and ...

The Severity and Grace of Holiness Leviticus 16-20 “Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy.” (20:26_                   How can a sinful person stand in the presence of a holy God?  He cannot!  There is deep within every person an awareness that because of our sin, we cannot stand before a holy God. To enter into the presence of God with the guilt and stain of our sin is to face the severity of His judgment.  This was a harsh lesson that the two sons of Aaron realized.  They approached the presence of God in the Tabernacle without dealing with the guilt of their sin, and the result was the punishment of death. This brought shockwaves of fear throughout the camp.  Throughout the Scriptures, when a person came face to face with the holiness of God, their response was universally the same. It is fear and terror.  We see an examp...

Prioritizing God Leviticus 21-25 “I Am the Lord”                   It is easy to gloss over the ceremonial laws of Leviticus, regarding them as outdated and disconnected from us.  However, to do so is to fail to recognize the critical lessons they teach us about life and faith.  Throughout Leviticus 21-15, repeated phrases point to profound spiritual principles that shape our lives in the present.  As we read through the regulations of the Priests, we see repeatedly that the rituals were to remind the people of the holiness of God and their obligation to be holy people set apart for Him. “They shall be holy to their God.”  However, this holiness does not come from themselves; instead, it is a work of God.  In 21:15 and 23, we find the statement, “For I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”  This points us to the most critical question of all s...

The Holiness of God and the Uncleanness of Humanity.  Leviticus 11-15 “For I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.”                   How do you teach people when there are no books or written material for instruction?  You teach by using analogies and lessons that are connected to their world.  You teach by symbols and equivalences so that they can understand and communicate the lessons to others through these illustrations. The theme of Leviticus is the holiness of God.  God is intrinsically holy and pure and cannot be associated with sin and corruption.  Yet, when we look at our world, we see that everything and everyone is tainted by sin.  Sin and its stain is so extensive that there is not a single aspect of our lives, our character, or our actions that is untouched by its corruptive effect....

The Sacrifice of Christ. Leviticus 6-10 “The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it.  It shall not go out, but the priests shall burn wood on it every morning; and he shall lay out the burnt offering on it, and offer up in smoke eth fat portions of the peace offerings on it.”                   To understand how Leviticus points us to Christ, we need to understand the significance of the sacrifices but also the role of the priests.  Both pointed us to the person and ministry of Christ.  The sacrificial system points us to the significance of His death, but in the priesthood, we discover the importance of His ministry on our behalf.                     In Leviticus, we discover five different types of sacrifices that the people were to offer up to God: The burnt off...

The Requirements of a Holy God Leviticus 1-5 “The Lord said to Moses: “When a person commits a violation and sins unintentionally in regard to any of the lord’s holy things, he is to bring to the Lord as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.”                   How can sinful people approach a holy God who is untainted by sin?  The Book of Leviticus is more than an outdated list of offerings and sacrifices that seem unconnected to the modern world.  The book of Leviticus is a signpost, a book of rituals and sacrifices designed to reveal the severity of sin and its judgment and how grace and salvation may be realized.  Perhaps more than any other book in the Old Testament, Leviticus serves as a primer of the person and work of Christ.  The gospels answer the question, “Who is the...