Chapter
3
LEVITICUS
God Demands and Gives
Holiness
The Book of
Exodus concludes with the setting up of the tabernacle for the worship of God.
This was the place where God met with his chosen people, the place of divine
worship, the place from whence the Lord God gave out
his word to his people. This tabernacle, being a picture of our dear Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, was made exactly according to the
pattern God gave to Moses. The Book of Leviticus gives us the prescribed
ordinances and ceremonies of divine worship.
John Gill tells us that, the Book of
Leviticus was written by Moses 2514 years after the creation, about 1490 years
before the coming of Christ. The various sacrifices, rites, and ceremonies here
described were typical of Christ, and shadows of those good things to come by
him for the everlasting salvation of our souls.
Three
Historical Events
There are only
three historical events mentioned in the whole Book of Leviticus. But those
three historical events are very instructive. The first historical event
recorded in this Book is the consecration of Aaron and his sons as the priests
of
First,
the Aaronic priesthood represents the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Specifically, Aaron, as the High Priest of Israel, foreshadowed the Lord Jesus
Christ, our great High Priest before God. He was divinely chosen, equipped,
anointed, approved and accepted. Only Aaron could make atonement in the holy of
holies, because he represented Christ our great High Priest who alone could and
would put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Heb. 7:23-28)
Second,
Aaron’s sons represent the Church and
The second historic event recorded in
Leviticus is the death of Nadab and Abihu by the hand of God for offering “strange
fire before the Lord” (ch.
10). —Let all who would worship God understand the powerful lesson set before
us in chapter 10. If we would worship God and find acceptance with him, we must
come to him with that which he has provided, Christ alone, and no mixture of
anything with Christ (Lev. 10:1-3). God is sanctified (honored) only by Christ;
and the only way he can be sanctified by fallen, sinful men and women is by
faith in Christ.
The third historic event recorded in the Book of Leviticus is
the stoning Shelomith’s son for blasphemy (24:10-16). Those who blaspheme the
name of God, cursing and denying him as God alone, shall be destroyed by him.
Though this unnamed wretch had a Hebrew mother, his father was an Egyptian; and
he preferred both the gods and the people of
All the rest of the Book is taken up with
the ceremonial laws God gave to
The Message
We do not have to guess about the central, dominant
message of the Book of Leviticus. It is plainly stated in chapters 19 and 20.
"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of
The message of Leviticus is this—God demands holiness
and God gives what he demands in Christ. All the types and ceremonies, laws and
sacrifices, priests and holy things spoken of in these twenty-seven chapters
show us that our only way of access to God is Christ. But, blessed be his holy
name, we do have access to God by Christ, because we have that holiness which
God demands in him, by his obedience and blood (John 14:6; Heb.
Holiness
"And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am
holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine…And the
LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children
of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy."
This
is both the command of God and the promise of God to his people. God commands
us to be holy. Without holiness no one shall see the Lord (Heb.
The Lord God declares to his chosen, covenant people that they
shall be a holy people—not partially holy—not mostly holy—but entirely holy.
This is not a recommendation, but a declaration. It is a declaration of grace
made to a specific people.
The word “holy” has two distinct
meanings. Both definitions of the word must be understood and applied here. To be holy is to be separate, distinct,
peculiar, separated and severed from all others. And to be holy is to be pure
or purified.
The Lord God here declares to his
The Lord God almighty, by the work of his
sovereign, free, distinguishing grace, takes such things as us, such things as
he finds in the dung heap of fallen humanity and makes them holy. God makes
sinners holy by the total removal of all sin and guilt from them and the
imputation of righteousness to them in free justification by the precious blood
of Christ (2 Cor.5:17). He makes us holy in sanctification (regeneration) by
imparting holiness to us (creating a new, holy nature in us) by his almighty
grace (Rom.
Without a doubt, the Scriptures teach us
that God requires holiness and God gives holiness to his people; but what is
this holiness? Because we are so universally inundated with false, free will,
works religion from our youth up we commonly think that holiness has something
to do with what we do. We tend to think of holiness in connection with austere,
weird behavior. We tend to think that "holy" people are people who
look and act as if they were weaned on dill pickles and daily bathed in
embalming fluid.
We are that little city girl, we’ve all
heard about, who on her first visit to the country saw a mule looking over a
fence at her with his long, sad face. She had never seen a mule before, and she
said, "I don't know what you are, but you must be a Christian—you look
just like Grandpa."
Holiness is commonly associated with
grimness, strangeness, oddness, something ugly and unappealing. And, frankly,
as I have heard it described from the pulpit and read about it in the writings
of men, I must acknowledge that such thoughts are justified. But that is not
holiness. That is nothing but religious self-righteousness and religious
delusion.
The Word of God speaks of holiness in a
different way. The Bible speaks of holiness as a beautiful and delightful
thing. Four times we are called to worship God in the beauty of holiness (1
Chron.16:29; 2 Chron. 20:21; Ps. 29:2; 96:9).
Wholeness
Holiness has something to do with wholeness. Holiness means
wholeness, completion, entirety, perfection of being. There are no degrees to
it. Either we are whole or we are broken and unwhole, complete or incomplete,
perfect or imperfect. As a general rule, when reading the Bible, if you will
think wholeness every time you read the word holiness, you will get a better
picture of what holiness is.
That is what the Lord is talking about in
Leviticus. He says to his covenant people, "you shall be whole, because I
am whole." God is complete. He is perfect. There is no blemish in his
character. He exists in perfect harmony with himself. He is perfect in beauty.
He is perfect wholeness. He looks upon his chosen in great, boundless grace,
and says, "You too, shall be whole."
I do not deny, suggest, or imply that
holiness does not involve separation, distinctness, and peculiarity. It
certainly does. What I am saying is this—Wholeness is that which separates
God’s elect from a ruined race. Wholeness, the blessed wholeness of grace and
righteousness in Christ, is our separateness, distinctness, and peculiarity.
Nothing is more desirable, nothing more
beautiful, and nothing more rare than wholeness. We long to be a whole people.
The whole Book of Leviticus, indeed the whole Word of God tells us how that God
demands this wholeness and gives it to poor, helpless, broken, ruined sinners.
He declares, “I am the Lord
that healeth thee.” And he heals us by the sacrifice of his dear Son. It is
written, “with his stripes ye are healed.”
God almighty heals the broken, ruined state and condition of his people by the
five things described in this great Book of Leviticus:—(1) Sacrifice—(2)
Priesthood—(3) Atonement—(4) Restoration—(5) Liberty.
Sacrifice (Lev. 1-7)
As I have been trying to demonstrate, the purpose of
Leviticus is echoed in verses such as
In
chapters 1-7, God gave Moses specific instructions about the sacrifices and
offerings by which his people would be allowed to approach him. In these five
sacrifices,
The burnt
offering shows us the way to God (1:1-17). We must come to God by faith in
Christ, who was consumed by the fire of God’s wrath as our Substitute. Let it
ever be remembered that our Lord Jesus Christ is that Burnt Offering who, being
consumed by the fire of God’s wrath, consumed the fire of God’s wrath for his
people. Because his fury was poured out like fire upon our Substitute (Na.
1:6), he declares, “Fury is not in me” (Isa. 27:4).
The meat
offering portrays the character of Christ, the God-man (2:1-16). He who is our
Substitute is most holy unto the Lord. It also speaks of our consecration to
God by faith in Christ.
The peace
offering speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Peace (3:1-17). Christ
alone can reconcile God and man. Christ alone can speak peace to the guilty
conscience. Christ alone is our Peace.
The sin
offering, of course, represents Christ our Substitute (4:1-35). Without the
shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. There is no forgiveness with
God except by the merits of a suitable, slain sin offering; and that Sin
Offering is Christ.
The trespass
offering sets before us a picture of Christ’s atonement (5:1-6:7). Our Lord
Jesus Christ made atonement for the sins of his people by paying our debt to
the full satisfaction of divine justice.
I hear the Savior
say,
“Thy strength indeed
is small.
Child of weakness,
watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
Jesus paid it all!
All the debt I owed!
Sin had left a
crimson stain,
He washed it white as
snow!
Priesthood
(Lev. 8-10)
Here is our unwholeness, our brokenness. Sin has separated us from
God. We cannot (in and of ourselves) come to him, approach him, and find
acceptance with him. How, then, can we come to God and find acceptance with
him? We must have a priest, a mediator, a daysman, an advocate. This God has
provided in Christ.
None but God’s Priest, the Lord Jesus
Christ can represent us before the holy Lord God, make sacrifice for us in the
presence of God, and bring to us the blessing of God. But our great High
Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ is so great, so meritorious, so
effectual, so worthy that he makes us priests unto God! Yes, it is true…
“Near, so very near to God, nearer I
cannot be,
For in the Person of His Son, I am as near
as He!”
Christ is our unfailing,
all-prevailing Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1-2).
Atonement
(Lev. 11-16)
The Lord Jesus is our great High Priest; but a priest is useless
without a sacrifice. Christ is both our Priest and our
sin-atoning Sacrifice, the Lamb of God who has taken away our sins! He has, by
his one great sacrifice for sin, forever put away all the sins of all his
people (Isa. 53:6, 9-11; Heb.
Restoration
(Lev. 17-24)
Leviticus 17-24 shows us typically that which is
the result of Christ’s sin-atoning sacrifice as our Substitute. Because
Christ has made atonement for us and put away our sins by the sacrifice of
himself, God almighty sends his Spirit in omnipotent, saving grace and restores
us to himself, reconciles us, and brings us into fellowship with him as the
sons of God, causing us to walk with him in the obedience of faith, worshipping
him. He says, “I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other
people” (
Leviticus
25 opens with the blowing of the jubilee trumpet. I can hardly wait. Soon,
Christ shall come again. Then liberty, the glorious liberty of the sons of God!
Then, blessed be his name, then we shall be made whole!
Someone told a story many years ago that
illustrates what I am trying to communicate. Some poor children put on a little
skit at a Rescue mission in
Two older boys, sitting in the back of the
room, laughed out loud as he walked across the stage. One of them yelled out,
"Hey, buddy, where are you going with that pack on your back?" The
little boy was devastated. He just stood before the crowd horribly embarrassed,
crying, and helpless.
Then a man got up from his seat, walked up
to the stage, knelt down beside the little boy, and put his arm around him. He
said to the audience, "This is my son. He has a deformity he can do
nothing about. But he was trying to do this little part because his mother and
I wanted him to do it. We thought it would be good for him; and he was trying
to please us. He wanted to make us proud of him. Well, I want everyone to know,
(I especially want him to know) that this is my son. He belongs to me. I love
him just the way he is. I’m proud of him and proud of his effort to please me.”
Then, he led the boy off the stage and took him home.
That is what our heavenly Fathers says to us. He sees our hurt, our embarrassment, our
heartache, our brokenness over our horrid deformity (sin), and our longing to
be whole; and he says, "You are mine." But that is not all. Because
our God declares, "You shall be healed, made whole. You shall be holy. I
will see to it. All your blemishes shall be removed. All your deformities shall
be corrected. All your faults shall be fixed. You shall be whole, for I am
whole." That is what the Book of Leviticus is about. That is what the
Bible is about (Jude 24-25). That is what God’s amazing grace in Christ does.
It makes sinners whole!