When We Miss the Mark: The Sin Offering and Our Savior
Listen to today’s passage – Leviticus 1 – 4
Follow along on Blue Letter Bible – Leviticus 1
Second Milers also read – Luke 23 – 24; Proverbs 3; Psalms 16 – 20
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Deuteronomy 32:4
Read the “0203 Evening and Morning” for today by Charles Spurgeon
Read a previous post from this passage – “It Is Finished.“
What Is a Sin of Ignorance?
In Leviticus 4, a “sin of ignorance” (or unintentional sin) refers to a violation of God’s commandments done without deliberate intent or full awareness at the time. The Hebrew term often translated as “through ignorance” or “unintentionally” (from the root shagag) implies straying, erring, or wandering from the right path—perhaps through oversight, human weakness, forgetfulness, or lack of full understanding of the law’s application.
- Examples include accidentally breaking a commandment (e.g., unknowingly touching something unclean or failing in a duty due to negligence).
- The sin becomes apparent later, leading to a sense of guilt (Leviticus 4:27–28: “come to his knowledge”).
- Importantly, ignorance does not excuse the sin—sin is still sin because it violates God’s holy standard, even if unintentional. The offering provides atonement once the sin is recognized, restoring fellowship with God.
The chapter outlines procedures based on who sinned:
- The anointed priest (high priest – vv. 3-12).
- The whole congregation (vv. 13-21).
- A ruler/leader (vv. 22-26).
- An individual common person (vv. 27-35).
In each case, the sinner (or representatives) lays hands on a blemish-free animal (bull, goat, etc.), transfers guilt symbolically, and the priest slays it. Blood is applied to the altar (or sprinkled in the sanctuary for higher-status sins), fat is burned, and atonement is made: “the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him” (e.g., Leviticus 4:35).
Distinguishing from Sins That Are Not “of Ignorance”
These are deliberate, premeditated, or presumptuous sins (Numbers 15:30–31). They involve willful defiance, rebellion against God, or knowing rejection of His commands.
- Intentional/presumptuous sins show contempt for God’s law and authority (Numbers 15:30: “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously… reproacheth the Lord”).
- No provision for atonement through the regular sin offering existed for these; the offender was “cut off” from the people (often meaning death or exclusion from the community/covenant).
- Example: The man gathering sticks on the Sabbath in Numbers 15:32–36 acted defiantly against a clear command, resulting in execution.
The key distinction is the heart’s posture:
- Sins of ignorance stem from human frailty, weakness, or unawareness (still serious, requiring atonement).
- Presumptuous sins involve deliberate rebellion, hardening the heart against God.
Both are sins, but the response differs based on intent and repentance.
How This Ties into Our Relationship with Christ Today
The sin offering in Leviticus 4 points forward to Jesus Christ as the ultimate, perfect fulfillment. The Old Testament sacrifices were shadows—temporary and repeated—covering sins but never removing them completely (Hebrews 10:1–4). Jesus provides the final, once-for-all solution.
- Jesus is our sin offering: God “made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He became the blemish-free sacrifice, bearing our guilt.
- He covers all sins: His blood atones for unintentional sins (our everyday failings, weaknesses, and ignorances) and, through genuine repentance, even willful ones when we turn back to Him (1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”).
- Eternal redemption: Unlike the repeated animal sacrifices, Christ’s death was “once for all” (Hebrews 9:11–14, 26–28; 10:10–14). He entered the heavenly sanctuary with His own blood, securing eternal forgiveness and cleansing our conscience.
- No more sacrifices needed: We don’t offer animals today; we come to God through faith in Christ’s finished work. His sacrifice purifies us, restores fellowship, and enables us to live in obedience—not out of fear of punishment, but gratitude for grace.
In our relationship with Christ:
- We acknowledge our sinfulness (even “secret” or ignorant sins—Psalm 19:12).
- We confess and repent, trusting His blood to cleanse us.
- We rest in His forgiveness, growing in holiness by the Spirit’s power.
- We avoid presumptuous sin by not hardening our hearts (Hebrews 3:7–13), but when we stumble, we find mercy through our High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14–16).
This devotion reminds us: God’s holiness demands payment for sin, but His love provides the perfect Lamb—Jesus—who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Praise God for His provision! May we live in humble dependence on Christ, daily confessing and rejoicing in His complete atonement.
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Leviticus and tagged Atonement, Christ, Leviticus 4, Missing the Mark, Presumptuous Sins, Sacrifice for Sin, sin, Sins of Ignorance, The Sin Offering, Unintentional Sin by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
The Choice is Yours
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 26 – 27 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – John 19 – 21; Proverbs 13; Psalms 66 – 70)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 48:1 & 2
Read the “0213 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from today’s passage – “First Things First“
“If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;” – (Leviticus 26:3)
“But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;” – (Leviticus 26:14)
In our passage today in Leviticus 26, the Lord places a choice before His people. In verses 3 – 13, God promises all kinds of wonderful things to Israel if they would continue to love Him and be faithful to Him. Beginning in verse 14, the Lord explains what will happen to them if they forsake Him. You will notice that the latter portion is much larger than the former. God goes to much greater lengths to clearly explain and warn the people of what would happen to them if they were to disobey.
First, let’s look at the blessings. God promised to:
1 Provide for them.
“Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.” – (Leviticus 26:4-5)
Everything they needed, and even much of what they could desire, God promised to give them.
2 Protect them from their enemies, and from natural calamities.
“And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” – (Leviticus 26:6-8)
3 They would proliferate (multiply)
“For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.” – (Leviticus 26:9)
4 They would be in partnership with God.
“And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.” – (Leviticus 26:10-13)
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Almost sounds too good to be true, but it wasn’t. God held up to His end of the bargain. Unfortunately, the people of Israel didn’t choose to continue to follow the Lord. Slowly, but surely, they began to get away from the commands of God and go their own way. Eventually the land was filled with idolatry, apostacy, and immorality; and then God was forced to do the things that are listed in verses 14 – 46. The provision and protection that God had once given them was removed and the people suffered the consequences of their choices.
God has a lot of the same conditional promises to Christians today. He said that He would meet our needs if we were to put Him first in our lives (Matthew 6:33). Yet, many of His churches and children today are forsaking Him, just as the Israelites did. Why are we so foolish? Let’s draw nigh unto God and let’s love Him and submit ourselves to His will for our lives. He has our best interests in mind. Choose God. He is the wise choice.
Posted in Thoughts from Leviticus by Phil Erickson with 4 comments.
Rest for the Land
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 24 – 25 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – John 17 – 18; Proverbs 12; Psalms 61 – 65)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 47:1
Read the “0212 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this morning’s reading – “The Mind of the Lord.”
“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.” (Leviticus 25:2-4)
The image above is of a scene typical in the southern plains during the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s, which afflicted parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. There were many contributing factors that caused the barren and desert-like conditions covering this huge land mass of once fruitful grassland, including a severe shortage of rain over and extended period of time. However, one of the components that added to the problem was a serious lack of intelligent land management. The government had encouraged and had given incentives for people to move to this area and farm the land; but, they over-farmed it and stripped the land of its topsoil and nutrients. In Egan Timothy’s book, The Worst of Times, Melt White from Texas was quoted as saying, “God didn’t create this land around here to be plowed up, He created it for Indians and buffalo. Folks raped this land. Raped it bad.”[1]
J. Vernon McGee refers to a similar “dust bowl” of sorts that he experienced as a young boy: “The southland where I was reared has learned, to its sorrow, that one should let the land lie fallow. A great deal of the land has been worn out by planting cotton every year, year after year. The Sabbatical year was actually a good agricultural principle which God gave to them. It is quite interesting that God knows all about farming, isn’t it?”[2]
Thousands of years before the Dust Bowl hit America, God had commanded His people to let their land “rest” one year out of seven in order for the land to be replenished with the nutrients it needs. The people could cultivate, plant, and reap their fields for six years, but on the seventh year they were forbidden to do so. On that seventh year, the people could go out in the field and eat of the fruits that grew on their own, but they could not harvest what had grown to be sold in the market. The poor and the wild beasts were also permitted to eat of anything that grew on its own in the year of rest. By resting their fields one year out of seven, God also replenished the nutrients that were taken from them during the six years. This way, the fields would continue to produce.
Unfortunately, it seems that Israel did not obey God and let their land rest one year out of seven as He commanded them. According to 2 Chronicles 36, God sent His people into Babylonian captivity for seventy years, and during that time He gave the land in Israel time to rest in proportion to the number of years that they did not voluntarily rest the land when they lived there:
“To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.” (2 Chronicles 36:21 – See also Jeremiah 25:8 – 11)
Though I am certainly not an expert on agricultural matters, I am told that many farmers today will rotate their fields in order that they can “rest” one year out of seven. Some farmers will actually plant something in the seventh year that they will not harvest. Then, they will plow it all back into the field returning the nutrients to the soil. The bottom line, is that farmers have learned that they cannot keep taking from the ground, without allowing it to be replenished.
A spiritual application that we can make from this is that neither can we keep selfishly taking what God has provided without every once in a while giving back. Just a thought.
[1] Egan, Timothy. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl (p. 9). HMH Books. Kindle Edition.
[2] J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 1 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 437.
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Leviticus and tagged Dust Bowl, Leviticus, Resting the Land, Rotating Crops by Phil Erickson with 6 comments.
Take Time To Remember
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 22 – 23 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – John 15 – 16; Proverbs 11; Psalms 56 – 60
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Matthew 6 verse 33
Read the “0211 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.” – (Leviticus 23:4)
In chapter 23 in the Book of Leviticus, we see the Lord giving His instructions regarding special days that would be set apart from other days. On these holy days, or “holidays” the people were commanded to stop their normal routine, and refrain from doing any kind of work. God wanted their focus to be on Him during these days. The special days (or in some cases weeks) listed in the chapter were as follows:
1 The Sabbath – every Saturday the people were to take a break from their work in order to rest. God rested the seventh day after He created the earth, so in some ways the Sabbath was memorial of God’s work at creation.
2 The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread – a memorial to God’s deliverance of the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. It seems to be that God wants us to remember some things. We are quick to forget the provision and protection that God has given us.
3 The Feast of First fruits – this Feast took place on the day after the Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This feast was an acknowledgement that the whole barley harvest belonged to the Lord.
4 The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost – This was a dedication of the wheat harvest. It took place in May/June 50 days after the Sabbath before the Feast of First fruits.
5 The Feast of Trumpets – 1st day of seventh month – it consecrated the entire seventh month as a Sabbatical month.
6 The Day of Atonement – 10th day of the seventh month – this was the day the priest went in to the Holy of Holies to offer for his own sins, and the sins of the nation.
7 The Feast of Tabernacles (also called Booths or Ingathering) – beginning on the 15th day of the seventh month – commemorated the time that God provided for Israel as they wandered the wilderness in tents after being delivered from Egypt. This feast is also a celebration of the fall harvest.
All of these special days and feasts were designed to help the children of Israel to remember things that should be important to them. God wants His children to remember all of the wonderful things that He has done for us. We tend to get very discontented when we forget all of the blessings that God has provided in our lives.
I believe it is important to continue these traditions in our lives today. We may not observe the same days, but there ought to be some special days in our lives where we take time out to remember. And, I believe we should be very careful to come apart on the Lord’s Day – Sunday – that one day out of seven for the purpose of resting the body, and reflection upon Christ. We are all busy people, or at least, we should be; but we need to take time out to remember. We need to take time to remember God on a daily basis by spending time with in our devotions. We also need to keep the Lord’s day holy and separated from the normal routines of the week. And there also needs to be some special days in the calendar year when we set apart time to remember important blessings from God.
There also ought to be special days that we set apart time for reasons other than spiritual. Families should observe special days, like birthdays and anniversaries. We ought to go out of our way to remember the important events and people in our lives.
Added Thought from the passage
“And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” – (Leviticus 23:22)
In the middle of this passage dealing with special days and feasts, God instructs the people of Israel to remember the poor. They were to intentionally leave some of the fruit from the harvest in the fields so that poor folks could come by and gather it. Today, we need to also remember that there are people less fortunate than ourselves that need some help. God has blessed many of us tremendously with financial blessings, and we need to remember to share some of what the Lord has given us with others. Just a thought.
Posted in Thoughts from Leviticus by Phil Erickson with 3 comments.
Ignorant But Not Innocent.
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 5 – 7 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – John 1 – 2; Proverbs 4; Psalms 21 – 25
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 119:105
Read the “0204 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty. Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these. And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:” – (Leviticus 5:3-5 )
I read today’s passage once through, but I struggled with what I should write about, so I went back to read it again. The second time around I noticed in chapter five that God was instructing the Israelites regarding sins of ignorance. I had to think about how a person could sin without knowing it, but it didn’t take long to figure out that we sin ignorantly all the time. Think about it. We do all kinds of things that are wrong and cause harm, without intending to do so. Also, we have done many things in the past, perhaps before we were saved, that we didn’t even know were wrong. The Bible says that even the thought of foolishness is sin. How many of us ever considered when we were yet unsaved that our thoughts were just as sinful as our actions. We may have been ignorant while doing these things, or thinking these things, but we were not innocent. Plus, there is the fact that some actions may be permissible for some, but wrong for others. The Bible says,”Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” – (James 4:17)
The bottom line is that we are sinful creatures. Not only do we intentially sin, but we also do many sinful things without fully realizing it. In our passage, God gave the children of Israel a solution for this dilemma. He told them that when they found out about their guilt, they were simply to confess it, and then offer a sacrifice for it. Praise God, today we do not have to offer up sacrifices to God for our sin because the Lord Jesus took care of all of the sacrifices necessary to atone for our sin when He was sacrificed once for all on the Cross of Calvary. But, I think it is still imperative for us to confess to God our sin when we find out about it, and then thank Him for the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that atones for it.
The idea here is that we need to stop trying to pretend that we are not guilty. We need to lower our defenses, and fire our “inner lawyer”, and get to the place where we recognize that we are full of sin, completely guilty before God, and totally unworthy and undeserving of His love and forgiveness. Stop trying to pretend that you are above sin, or that you have arrived at some kind of spiritual plateau where you are somehow better than other people. You are a sinner. I am a sinner. On my best day, I am still full of sins, most of which I am too dull spiritually to even recognize; but that’s OK, because I have a Saviour that I have completely trusted to save me from the eternal penalty of my sin, and I also trust Him daily to forgive and restore me to a place of fellowship with Him. Thank God for Jesus!
One more quick thought, If just now you have come to the place where you realize that you are a bigger sinner than you thought you were, yet you also understand that God still loves you and forgives you anyway; why don’t you cut the other sinners around you some slack; they’re struggling with the same sinful condition that you are. Just a thought.
Oh, and by the way, the baby pictured above is also not innocent, but the blood of Jesus atones for his sin, and protects him until he comes to the maturity level where he realizes that he is guilty before God. There will come a day when he will know that he is a sinner, and then he will be accountable for his sin. He will then have to either receive or reject the atonement made by the Lord for his sin.
Posted in Thoughts from Leviticus by Phil Erickson with 5 comments.
It Is Finished!
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 1 – 4 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 23 – 24; Proverbs 3; Psalms 16 – 20)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Deuteronomy 32:4
“And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar:” – (Leviticus 4:33-34)
“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.” – (Luke 23:34)
I must confess that as I was reading the 4 chapters from Leviticus this morning, I kept thinking to myself: “what am I going to write about from this passage?” The four chapters are all about the Old Testament offerings. We read about the burnt offering, the meat offering, the peace offering, and the sin offering. I have been a student of the Bible for many years, and I still don’t have all of the Old Testament offerings straight in my head. I really was not looking forward to writing a devotion on one or all of these Old Testament sacrifices. But, then I read the “second miler” passage for this morning from Luke 23. I read where Jesus said, “Forgive them”, and I thought about what He said in John’s gospel, “It is finished,” and then I got excited. I realized that I don’t have to know all of the details of the Old Testament sacrificial system because all of those sacrifices and offerings pictured and pointed to one thing: the sacrifice that Christ would make on the Cross of Calvary. It truly is finished! We don’t have to run down to the Tabernacle or Temple every time that we sin. We do not have to keep it all straight, because Jesus Christ paid for it all when He died for our sins. Praise God!
The next thing that I thought about this morning was that I don’t fully appreciate what the Lord did for me on the Cross. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to live in Old Testament Israel. It certainly would have been very burdensome to live under the Law, as it was impossible to live it perfectly. Do you think that even the best of the Israelites did everything the way they were supposed to? Do you think that every time they committed a sin of ignorance (and didn’t get caught) they went down to the priests with a sacrifice? I doubt it. That must have led to a lot of guilt, because they knew in their hearts that they were not fully obeying the Lord. What a relief it is to know that all sin, every sin, whether they be sins of ignorance or not, are forgiven. They are all under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I feel like speaking in tongues right now! (just kidding) Praise God for Jesus!!!!
Oh Oh! I just got another thought: a thought about sacrifices. There is one more sacrifice that I should consider today: the living sacrifice. I am to present my body a living sacrifice to the Lord. I am no longer my own: I am bought with a price, and I belong to Him; and that is my reasonable service. It is the least that I can do to live for the Lord since He was willing to die for me.
All of those thoughts from what I thought at first to be a dry and tedious portion of Scripture. Thank God for the Book of Leviticus!
Did you also notice with many of these offerings or sacrifices for sin that the man that committed the sin was the one who had to kill the animal? That makes it very personal. I do not like to kill things. I guess I am a little squeemish. I don’t even like to kill bugs. When I find one in the house, I usually bring it outside. For me to have to kill an animal every time I sin, would certainly be enough to cause me to not want to sin anymore.
Now think about the Lord Jesus. Did you ever think that every time you sin, it is like you personally crucifying the Lord. It is you and me that are piercing His brow and His side. It is you and me that are driving the nails into His hands and feet. Think about it. If every time you sin, you thought about having to slay the Lord of glory to atone for it, wouldn’t that deter you from wanting to sin anymore. I guess that is what the Bible means when it says the love of Christ constrains us. He loved us so much He was willing to die for our sins, and it was our sin, my sin that put Him on that cross. Think about it.
Posted in Thoughts from Leviticus by Phil Erickson with 3 comments.
Strange Fire
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 8 – 10 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – John 3 – 4; Proverbs 5; Psalms 26 – 30)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Joshua 1:8
Read the “0205 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.” (Leviticus 10:1-2)
This is a very scary passage of Scripture. God kills the two sons of Aaron for offering “strange fire” before the Lord. This story reminds me of when God killed Uzza for putting his hand upon the ark of God in an attempt to steady it and keep it from falling off of the cart that it was being transported on. (See 1 Chronicles 13) On the surface, these accounts make God seem to be unfair in that He kills people over minor infractions, but let’s consider this “strange fire” passage before us in Leviticus.
Why was God so upset about the “strange fire”?
1 They were supposed to take the fire from off of the brazen altar and use it to burn the incense. Apparently, they had violated God’s clear command and had taken a short-cut to accomplish their purpose. God does not like when people do His work in their own way. (See Exodus 30:9; 34 – 38)
2 Though we cannot be sure, it appears from the context that they may have been drunken when they were serving in the Tabernacle. Notice what God commands Moses in verses 8 – 11, just after this event takes place:
“And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.” (Leviticus 10:8-11)
God is very serious about His service. People who minister for the Lord need to be extremely careful that they are serving God His way, and that they are giving Him their absolute best. God may not kill us today for taking the ministry lightly, but just think about all of the people who will suffer spiritually when we serve God in our flesh and don’t give Him our best effort.
Posted in Thoughts from Leviticus by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
There Is A Fountain
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 16 – 18 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – John 11 – 12; Proverbs 9; Psalms 46 – 50)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 25
Read the “0209 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this morning’s passage – “It’s Still in the Book“
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” – (Leviticus 17:11)
“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” – (Hebrews 9:12)
“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”– (Hebrews 9:22)
In Leviticus chapter 16, we learn about The Day of Atonement. This was the one day in the year that the high priest, which at this time was Aaron, would be permitted by God to go into the most holy place, called The Holy of Holies. On this day the priest would go into the most holy place where the ark of God was, and where the presence of God dwelt between the cherubims on the top of the mercy seat, which was the covering for the ark. He would go in first with the blood of a bullock which he offered for his own sins and for the sins of his family; and then he would go in with the blood of a goat which was for the sins of all of the congregation of Israel. This was the only day that he was allowed to enter into the presence of God. If he attempted to go in at any other time; or if he did not go in with the right heart, his offering would not be accepted and he would be smitten by God.
This Day of Atonement served as a sort of temporary appeasement of God for the sins of the people. The New Testament is very clear that the sacrifice of an animal could never really atone for man’s sins. It did remind man and God annually, however, that there would someday be the perfect sacrifice; the Sinless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. He would someday come, and shed all of His blood for the sins of all men. The Old Testament Day of Atonement was merely a picture of the only true sacrifice that could be accepted by a Holy God. His blood was shed for you and me. I love the hymn, “There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood”. It reminds us of the awesome love that God has for us; and, praise God, sinners are still being plunged beneath that flood in order to have their sins completely and permanently cleansed and forgiven.
Have you applied the payment that the Lord Jesus made to your eternal account yet. He made a deposit 2000 years ago of His precious, perfect blood in order to pay the price for your sins and mine. I received that payment, by faith, over twenty years ago. I pray that if you haven’t done so yet, that you will receive it today.
And by the way: remember how the high priest could only go into God’s presence once per year. Things are different now. God has ripped the veil that separated a Holy God from a sinful people through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And now we can enter into His presence anytime we want; all because of the precious blood of Jesus.
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” – (Hebrews 4:16)
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Unclean
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 13 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – John 7 – 8; Proverbs 7; Psalms 36 – 40)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 19
Read the “0207 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.” – (Leviticus 13:45-46)
This morning we have been reading all about the plague of leprosy from Leviticus 13. Leprosy was certainly a horrible disease which, I believe, was fatal in almost all cases. If a person was determined by the priests to be a leper, he was separated from all others in the congregation, including his family, and was required to live outside the camp presumably among other lepers. If they were ever in a situation where they were in a close proximity with non-lepers, they were required to cry out unclean, unclean, so as to warn the people to keep their distance. This policy may seem to be harsh to us, but it was the only way to keep leprosy from spreading throughout the entire congregation of Israel.
Leprosy in the Bible is a picture, or type, of sin. Sin is like leprosy in many ways. It starts out on the inside, but eventually works its way out to the outside. It starts out small, but soon covers the entire body. If not dealt with, it will also spread to everybody. It causes us to be separated from God, and the people we love; and it leads eventually to death. We are all sinners, so we should all be able to relate to this dreaded disease. Fortunately for us there is a cure, a cleansing for this spiritual leprosy that we are plagued with. It is called the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. As the song says, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” What a blessing it is to know that there is a cure for the penalty of sin in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though we are unclean in our flesh, He comes near to us and cleanses us from our sin. Praise the Lord!
One more thought regarding the leprosy of sin. God spared no precaution in trying to keep the people away from leprosy, and He feels the same way today about sin. He wants us to stay as far away from sin as possible. We are supposed make much of sin, instead of trying to minimize it. Don’t try to justify the sin in your life; do your best to eradicate it. We will never be able to remove the presence of sin in our life altogether. There is no such thing as “sinless perfection”; but we can get as close to God as possible, and through our closeness to God, see sin as He sees it. Maybe then we will strive to keep sin as distant from us as Israel attempted to keep leprosy from their congregation. This does not mean we loathe the sinner; we are commanded to love them, and pray for them, and do everything we can do to help them get to the cure; just as somebody helped us
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The Choice Is Yours
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 26 – 27
“If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;” – (Leviticus 26:3)
“But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;” – (Leviticus 26:14)
In our passage today, in Leviticus 26, the Lord places a choice before His people. In verses 3 – 13, God promises all kinds of wonderful things to His people if they would continue to love Him, and be faithful to Him. Beginning in verse 14, the Lord explains what will happen to them if they forsake Him. You will notice that the latter portion is much larger than the former. God goes to much greater lengths to clearly explain and warn the people of what would happen to them if they were to disobey.
First, let’s look at the blessings. God promised to:
1 Provide for them.
“Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.” – (Leviticus 26:4-5)
Everything they needed, and even much of what they could desire, God promised to give them.
2 Protect them from their enemies, and from natural calamities.
“And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” – (Leviticus 26:6-8)
3 They would proliferate (multiply)
“For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.” – (Leviticus 26:9)
4 They would be in partnership with God.
“And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.” – (Leviticus 26:10-13)
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Almost sounds too good to be true, but it was. God held up to His end of the bargain. Unfortunately, the people of Israel didn’t choose to continue to follow the Lord. Slowly, but surely, they began to get away from the comands of God, and go their own way. Eventually the land was filled with idolatry, apostacy, and immorality; and then God was forced to do the things that are listed in verses 14 – 46. The provision and protection that God had once given them was removed, and the people suffered the consequences of their choices.
God has a lot of the same promises to Christians today. He said that He would meet our needs, and that He would never leave us nor forsake us. Yet, many of His churches and children today are forsaking Him, just as the Israelites did. Why are we so foolish? Let’s draw nigh unto God; let’s love Him and submit ourselves to His will for our lives. He has our best interests in mind. Choose God. He is the wise choice.
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