Leviticus 22:17-21, “And the LORD spoke
to Moses, saying, (18) "Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the
people of Israel and say to them, When any one of the house of Israel or of the
sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of
their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the LORD, (19)
if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of
the bulls or the sheep or the goats. (20) You shall not offer anything that has a
blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you.
(21) And when anyone offers a
sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfil a vow or as a freewill
offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect;
there shall be no blemish in it.”
If we were called upon to sacrifice something, what is it that we
would sacrifice, what would we be willing to sacrifice and how costly would
that sacrifice be to us? Many of us would willingly sacrifice those things that
we don’t really want or like, that which is of little value to us. But when it
comes to that which we treasure and love, we hold on to them, unwilling to give
them up. We are not willing to give that which is costly to us, that which is
truly sacrificial. Ultimately selfishness and greed lies within all our hearts.
We are happy to give the broken, the worthless, but we are not willing to give
that which we treasure most.
What would have happened if God had not given such specific commands
about what animals could and could not be sacrifice, and the condition of those
animals? We know what would have happened, the animals that were diseased,
maimed, those which were marked, blemished, those which had been hurt or
wounded by other animals, would be offered up as sacrifices. It would have been
seen as an “honourable” and “godly” way to get rid of the livestock you did not
want. The healthy livestock, the prize lamb, goat, sheep or bull would not be
brought to be sacrificed, that would be kept back.
In commanding the people of Israel to bring only the very best of their
livestock to sacrifice, was God being cruel and selfish? Was God seeking to
deny them the potentially great profits than could be made from a prize animal?
God commands them to do this because of what He desires to teach the
people. Firstly, He is reminding them of His holiness, only that which is pure,
spotless and perfect is acceptable in His sight. God is to be worshipped in
holiness, purity and perfection, anything less would be to dishonour God.
Secondly, He wants them to know that if they are seeking to offer up an animal
that is to function as a substitute for their sin, for that sacrifice to bear
their sin, then that animal must be perfect, it must not have any sin of its
own to bear. How can an animal sin? It is not that an animal can sin, rather an
animal can bear the marks, the consequences of sin. Everything was created as
perfect, spotless and without blemish, all of creation was entirely pleasing
and acceptable to God, God saw it as being good. Sin has impacted and stained
this perfect creation. As a result of sin there is now disease, infirmity, and
death, and much of creation bears the marks of our sinfulness. Only that which
is perfect and pure, only that which doesn’t bear the marks of sin can be
offered up to God as a sacrifice. Thirdly, God wants to teach the people of
Israel that sin is destructive, costly and deadly. Think of the battle within
as you take your prize bull to be slaughtered and then consumed by fire on the
altar. Yet it served as a powerful reminder of how serious sin is, that God
will demand payment, God’s justice must be satisfied and His glory, honour and
holiness vindicated. Fourthly, and most importantly it was designed by God to
point to the Lord Jesus Christ. For us to have true forgiveness from sin and to
be made acceptable in God’s sight, we need more than just a spotless animal, we
need a spotless, sinless, perfect, pure, blameless and holy man. Jesus Christ
comes as that man, so as to atone, pay for our sin thus setting us free from
sin and its eternal consequences.
How grateful we should be that God has designed such things to teach
us about Him, ourselves and our great need. We should be all the more grateful
to know that God not only teaches us all this, but He also works so as to
supply our great need, the need of a Saviour. Jesus Christ the perfect God-man,
the sinless sacrifice, the one who satisfies the justice of God and brings us
true and eternal salvation.
Lord Jesus God, Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world, how we praise and adore You today, for You willingly
laid down Your perfect life for our sin. You paid what we owed, You endured the
punishment we deserved, and You gave to us what was rightful Yours. Thank You
that You have been our sinless and perfect sacrifice, thank You that You have
brought us full forgiveness and thank You that You have made us pleasing,
acceptable and holy in the Father’s sight. To You belongs eternal praise. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment