Leviticus 7:37-38, “This is
the law of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, of the sin offering, of
the guilt offering, of the ordination offering, and of the peace offering, (38)
which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day that he commanded
the people of Israel to bring their offerings to the LORD, in the wilderness of
Sinai.”
Leviticus chapters 1-6 record for us the various
sacrifices that are to be offered up by the people of Israel. With all of the
details given in these chapters we might wonder why chapter 7 is necessary as
it seems to repeat what has just been said. It is important for us to
understand that repetition in the Bible is never a vain-task, it is there for a
specific purpose. Generally that purpose is to emphasise and reinforce what has
been said. We need to remember that while we have Leviticus written down for us
to read whenever we want, the people of Israel did not have this privilege. The
only time they heard these words was on the few occasions that they were read
to them by a priest. This repetition is designed to help the people remember
how they are to approach God and how they are to offer up the various
sacrifices.
As we mentioned at the beginning of our study in
Leviticus, this book strongly emphasises the holiness of God and the sinfulness
of man. It also helps us to understand that God takes our relationship with Him
very seriously, He does not regard it as a light thing; sadly in our sinfulness
we make the error of taking our relationship with God lightly. We can often be
guilty of approaching God in a casual manner, with little forethought, and even
less thoughtfulness and consideration for the manner in which we are
worshipping God. To help us understand this error and the need for us to take
our relationship with God seriously, and for us to approach God in humility,
with awe and reverence, God gives all these detailed instructions. He wants the
people of Israel to understand who He is, and who they are. God wants them to
prepare themselves for worship, and to give consideration to the manner in
which they are going to worship God. He wants them to understand that when they
come to offer up a sacrifice, when they seek after forgiveness, peace and
answers to prayers, that they are coming before God, a God who is holy,
almighty and infinite. They cannot march casually with no consideration and
respect for what they are about to do. They cannot just drop the animal to be sacrificed
off at the temple and leave it to the priest. Nor are the priests to just
slaughter the animal and throw it on to the altar and walk off, leaving the
sacrifice to burn down to nothing. No! There is a process to be followed so
that both the worshipper and the priest understand exactly what they are doing
and in whose presence they are doing it.
Whilst we are grateful for the person and work of Christ,
who has done away with the sacrificial system and caused God’s Spirit to now
dwell within us, we can be guilty of the same error. In fact the temptation and
the potential for committing this error is all the greater. We do not need to
go to a temple, nor do we need to take time to follow through with the process
of cleansings and sacrifices. As a result we fail to consider who we are
worshipping and we seldom prepare ourselves and our families to worship God.
Furthermore we are not always mindful of the fact that God is present when we
worship, although we cannot see Him, He is there with us, and He is within us.
The challenging and revealing question is: If we could see God when we
worshipped, would our worship be any different, would we change the manner in
which we prepared and partook in the worship of God? If the answer is yes, it
would change, then we know that we need to make that change now. Of course when
we see God our worship will be greater as we will understand so much more of
who He is and then who we are. But until that day comes, we should only ever
want to render to God the highest level of worship we are able to.
God of all, who dwells in
unapproachable glory and majesty, who is infinite and deserving of all our
worship, we bow in humility before Your throne. We plead for forgiveness as we
so often fail to consider who You are and how You are to be worshipped. We ask that
through the aid of Your Spirit You would help us to be more aware and mindful,
to prepare ourselves and participate in worship at the highest and best level
we are able to whilst still upon this earth. Help us to worship You as though
we could see Your very presence, for we know that You are indeed present even
though You are hidden from our sight. May our worship today and this week be
truly honouring to You. Amen.
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