Day 9: 90-Day Bible Challenge

Day 9: 90-Day Bible Challenge

Today’s reading:
Leviticus 14:33-26:26

A thought or two:
Okay, I will admit it; there is some weird stuff in the last two days of reading. Reading the about the sacrifices and the ritual of Leviticus may have cause some curiosity and some questions. Some of those questions may have been: Why did they have to do that stuff? Why don’t we have to do that stuff? Well in attempt to help you understand the importance of the Book of Leviticus I have complied an explanation of what it meant them and what it means now.

The Book of Leviticus is actually a manual, a how-to guide for Israel’s new priesthood, explaining the duties of priest and people as they worship God at His tabernacle. The first half of the book covers sacrifices and duties of priests, and the second half states principles of personal as well as ritual holiness. God chose to dwell with His people in a tabernacle that symbolizes both His presence and His power. We realize God’s presence has an awesome impact: those with whom God dwells must be a different, holy people! Every ritual and moral regulation of Leviticus is designed to drive this truth home. If God is with us, we must be wholly set apart to Him. We also realize through the emphasis on sacrifice that we stand before God as sinners. Only a people cleansed by sacrificial blood can draw near to the Lord to worship Him and to celebrate His presence. The frequent focus of Leviticus on ritual matters may seem foreign to you and me. But the underlying message of this manual of Old Testament worship shines bright, and is relevant to us today.

The Book of Leviticus was the first book studied by a Jewish child; yet is often among the last books of the Bible to be studied by a Christian. However, a book referred to about 40 times in the New Testament should be of great significance to every Christian. The Book of Leviticus contains extensive revelation concerning the character of God—especially His holiness but also His electing love and grace. Many New Testament passages, including some key concepts in the book of Hebrews, cannot be understood properly without a clear understanding of their counterparts in the Book of Leviticus.

For the Christian, the grace which Leviticus offered through the sacrificial system is now found wholly in Jesus Christ, and the sacrifices provided the New Testament authors with a rich imagery for interpreting the significance of the cross. Likewise, the demand for holiness, in Leviticus a badge of Israel’s separation from the nations, is transformed in the New Testament into the call to Christian distinctiveness from the world. But the moral challenge of Leviticus, as of the whole Old Testament law, cannot be confined to the church. God created Israel to be a light to the nations. Their distinctiveness was to enable them to model the ethical standards and direction of life that God ultimately wants for all. The book thus has important lessons for the understanding of our salvation, our personal sanctification and our social ethics. Leviticus is a part of those Scriptures which, according to Paul, are able to make us wise for salvation and are profitable for teaching us how to live (2 Tim. 3:15–17)

Theologically the Levitical sacrificial system was instituted for a people redeemed from Egypt and in covenant relationship with their God. Thus sacrifice in Israel was not a human effort to obtain favor with a hostile God but a response to the Lord who had first given Himself to Israel in covenant relationship. Yet whenever sin or impurity, whether ethical or ceremonial, disrupted this fellowship, the individual or the nation (whichever was the case) renewed covenant fellowship with the Lord through sacrifice, the particular sacrifice depending on the exact circumstance of the disruption.


Tomorrow’s reading:
Leviticus 26:27-Numbers 8:14