Verse for the Day, 26 November 2014.

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.

Verse for the Day, 24 November 2014.

Leviticus 5:1-6  "If anyone sins in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity;  (2)  or if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean wild animal or a carcass of unclean livestock or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it is hidden from him and he has become unclean, and he realizes his guilt;  (3)  or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort the uncleanness may be with which one becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and realizes his guilt;  (4)  or if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these;  (5)  when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed,  (6)  he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.

The theme of sacrifices and offerings continues in chapter 5 with the guilt offering. As the name suggests this offering is made for sin that is apparent, or sin that comes to light. The previous offering, the sin offering, was to be made for unintentional and unknown sins. Sins that remained hidden from our knowledge, yet our guilt in regards to committing them remained and thus payment was required. The guilt offering was instituted as a means of seeking to deal with known and public sin. This offering was also accompanied by the necessary restitution that needed to be made for that particular sin.

Thus far we have looked at the burnt offering, the thank offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. With all these offerings, we may wonder to ourselves, why do there need to be so many, why didn’t God just institute one offering that could be offered up to cover all of the above? These offerings were not cheap, it required a person to have to buy the animal and then make a costly journey to Jerusalem. Why not make it easier and more economical and just have one offering? Furthermore is God not being a bit unreasonable in demanding that every time we sin deliberately that we need to make an offering for that sin? Why can’t we just offer up an offering every couple of years?

To us that may make common sense, but by thinking in this manner it shows how our view of sin differs from God’s view. We fail to understand the gravity and offence of sin, we reduce it, down play it and excuse it. As was mentioned when we looked at Leviticus 4, many in the world will think of God as being harsh and unfair in holding us responsible for sins that we were not even aware of. And when we do sin deliberately we seek to minimise, justify and excuse it, we will argue against being held accountable for it, and will seek to pass the responsibility and guilt for it, on to another person.

All of these offerings are designed to teach us the need for us to take personal responsibility for our relationship with God and for our sin. No other person can bring us closer to God and cause us to grow in spiritual maturity, and no one else can take responsibility for our sin. We need to realise that God calls each and every one of us to take our relationship with His seriously, we are all called to walk in obedience to Him and to live for the glory of His name. When we do fall into sin, instead of denying, downplaying, reducing or excusing it, we need to take responsibility for it. We need to take responsibility for our sin, before God and before men, seeking God’s forgiveness, and making restitution to those whom we have wronged. Neither our personal relationship with God nor our sinfulness can be taken lightly, they are deeply serious and demand our daily attention.

For us today who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are filled with daily gratitude that our sin has been completely dealt with by Christ. We no longer need to make sacrifices on a regular basis. However, it is all the more important for us to understand the seriousness of sin and our need to not only avoid it, but also to take immediate responsibility for it. We need to take it quickly to God in prayer, seeking His forgiveness and the strengthening of His Spirit to keep us from further sin. One of the greatest ways in which we can demonstrate our thankfulness for the salvation of Christ, our understanding of sin and the importance of our relationship with God, is by seeking daily to grow in our relationship with God. We do not invest time, effort, resources and make sacrifices for relationships that we see as being of little worth or importance. Sadly, many Christians make rather poor investments into their relationship with God, which reflects on how poorly they understand their salvation. We need to be willing to invest greatly in our relationship with God. As we make this investment, we will see the returns very quickly. We will grow in our appreciation of who God is and the depths of our salvation, we will know more of the holiness of God and therefore the repulsiveness and gravity of sin. We will gain spiritual strength through a greater knowledge of the Scriptures and a deeper prayer life, which will help us to battle against sin. We will gain greater spiritual insight and discernment, so that we can see truth and error, right and wrong with greater clarity. We will grow in wisdom and learn how we can apply that wisdom to our lives in practical ways. We will find the tremendous joy and abiding peace that comes when we walk closely with the Lord.

All the offerings in Leviticus were designed to help the people of Israel grow ever deeper in their relationship with God. Because of Christ we no longer have to make those offerings, however we are also called to grow deeper in our relationship with God and to take sin seriously.

Righteous Father, we thank You that You created us to have a personal relationship with You. We thank You all the more that even after we fell into sin, You still desired to have a relationship with us, and put in place a means by which we could approach You, which culminated in and was completely accomplished by Christ. Thank You that because of Christ we now have a restored personal relationship with You both in this life and in the life to come. We pray that You would help us to grow and to invest in this relationship, and to understand the gravity of sin. Make it the daily, burning and compelling desire of our hearts to want to live for You and to walk deeper and closer with You each and every day. Amen.  

Verse for the Day, 21 November 2014.

Leviticus 4:27-29, “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the LORD's commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt,  (28)  or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed.  (29)  And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering… (35)… And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.”

We seldom consider how rampant sin is in our lives and in the lives of those around us. It is so deeply ingrained within our nature and is so much a part of daily life that we can find ourselves committing sin unintentionally, with no idea or knowledge that we are sinning. For example if a work colleague tells us that they have done a particular task, but they are lying, we are none the wiser. When we are then asked by a superior if that task has been done and we reply positively based on what we have been told, then we too are guilty of lying, even though we are not aware of it. Another example is that we may develop a prejudice against another person based on information that we have been told, however that information is false and fabricated. In these cases are we then responsible for this sin, are we accountable for it?

Many think that it would be grossly unfair if we were held accountable for it. Yet the reality is that sin is sin, whether it be intentional or not, and it cannot simply be ignored or overlooked. Such is God’s holiness that all sin must be dealt with. Our guilt in regard to these unintentional sins may not be as great as those who commit that same sin intentionally, but the fact remains that sin is sin and guilt is guilt, repentance is still required.

To help the people of Israel understand that sin is so deeply ingrained and can be committed unintentionally, we find in Leviticus 4 the institution of the sin offering. An offering that was to be made when it was discovered that one had been guilty of unintentional sin, or an offering that was to be made for sins they had committed, but of which they are not aware. The institution of this sacrifice teaches a number of important truths. Firstly, it teaches us that God sees all and knows all, nothing escapes His sight or His knowledge. Secondly, God’s holiness is absolute, there is no room for give or take and there is no tolerance of sin whether it is deliberate or unintentional and unknown to the individual. Thirdly, to be accepted in God’s presence, our holiness also needs to be absolute, there cannot be even the faintest trace of sin. Fourthly, sin is deeply ingrained in us and in the lives of all those around us, we sin daily, and others sin against us daily. We need to be aware that in the course of the day we can be caught up in the sins of others, without even realising it.

On the basis of these truths, if God had not made a way of dealing with these sins, then salvation, fellowship and relationship with God would be impossible. Therefore this sacrifice of unintentional sin may at first come across as being unfair, however, it is a means of mercy and grace. God in His desire to see us freed from sin has instituted a means to deal with sin, all sin, known and unknown.

Ultimately this sacrifice points us to Christ, for it is only Christ that can change our hearts to deal with the sin within, and it is only Christ who can make us absolutely holy by clothing us with His holiness. Christ deals with all our sin, the sins that haunt us and cause us to feel greatly ashamed, and this sins that we don’t even know about. If we take time to contemplate this we will once again be reminded of the immensity of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and salvation extended to us through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Finally, on a practical note, this chapter reminds us of the importance of praying for forgiveness for unknown and unintentional sin. We should have the same prayer as that of David in Psalm 19:12-14, “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.  (13)  Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.  (14)  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” And, Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  (24)  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” On a daily basis we should ask for God to search our hearts and reveal to us any and all sin, known or unknown, intentional or unintentional, and then seek after His forgiveness of that sin. We should pray for His protection against such sin, and for discernment to recognise sin and the sin of others so that we might avoid it. As believers in Christ, we have been made holy through the work of Christ, but the challenge is for us to walk in that holiness.

Most merciful God we thank You for the depth of grace and forgiveness that You extend to us. We rejoice in the fact that You have dealt with and forgiven all of our sin, even the sin we do not know about. Thank You that because of Christ, we are now counted as holy and are therefore acceptable in Your sight. We pray that through the aid of Your Spirit we might be able to walk in this holiness whilst keeping a close watch on our lives, ensuring that we seek after righteousness and avoid temptation and sin. Search our hearts today, expose our sin, known and unknown and lead us to repentance. Amen.