A Boomer in the Pew

Bible in a Year Series: Grasping the Grace of God's Sacrificial System

Day #50 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible:  Leviticus 19-21.

The last time I read through the book of Leviticus it seemed rather dry, and a book of do's and don'ts.

This time around, I am taking time to use my imagination with each scene.  I imagine the tabernacle at the foot of Sinai.  I imagine the leaders gathered to hear the commands of God through Moses.  Each law brings with it a picture in my mind.  Some of them disturbing.

Sinai is a sort of boot camp for God's elect.  They have been in captivity for four hundred years, and worse yet, they are about to inhabit a land that is full of abominations to Yahweh.  They have no idea how to live a holy, pleasing life to Yahweh.

Here, God wants Israel to understand that he is holy, that he is their God, and that he desires that they also be holy, set apart, and strive to live within the utopian guidelines that he is giving them.

When one gets past these instructions as merely a set of rules, but strives to actually live them, you come face to face with your fallen nature as you daily fall flat on your face attempting to be set apart as God desires.

You begin to see the battle that wages inside each of us.  Each of us, in our own different ways, seem to have this strong magnetic pull to do just the opposite of what God desires.  There is this constant desire to succumb to the desire of our fallen natures.

Eventually, if you are honest with yourself, you begin to realize that you have no chance of living up to the holiness here described, and begin to understand your desperate need of God's sacrificial system. 

God, as pure holiness, will not be present with sin.  In fact, when God is present with sin/evil, he destroys it.  Therefore, this makes us completely incapable of a relationship with God.  We would come into his presence only to be destroyed.

How beautiful is it therefore, that God has created a way for us to become clean, to transfer our stain to another.  God has decreed that the wages of sin is death.  But in his infinite mercy, he allows Israel a holy way to prescribe this sure death to an unblemished bull, lamb, goat, or bird.

It is certainly gruesome business to watch the slaughter of an innocent lamb.  But as we begin to observe, we begin to understand how utterly gruesome this whole business of sin is, and how abhorrent it is to God.

Our understanding of the Gospel message is significantly more beautiful if we understand here its roots.

Am I making any sense?  Do you see what I mean?

Bible in a Year Series: Understanding the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)

Day #49 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Leviticus 16-18.

I suppose that in all of the Old Testament, there is perhaps no more sacred moment than God's prescribed Day of Atonement.

I say this because Israel, as God was teaching them how to atone for their sins, had no idea that God himself was going to come down to earth to become the Sacrificial Lamb, the Fulfillment of the Law, and personally pay the price for mankind's sin so that man might again find a right relationship with his Creator.

I am going to stop my post right here because we are on holy ground, and as Frederick Leahy states, "the wisest thing to do is remove one's shoes and bow in penitent, grateful silence".

Bible in a Year Series: God is the Only Thing we Should Fear

Day #48 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Leviticus 14-15.

Today we learned more about what is clean, and unclean, as is it concerned with a leper, a leper's house, a man's discharge, a man's semen, and a woman's bloody discharge.

We read these things, and wonder what God might have to teach us, and why God has put into place such rituals.  After all, the evangelical mind tends to think that ritual is perhaps a bad thing.

Plus, after these lessons on cleanliness, there is this disconcerting statement from God:

“Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.” (Leviticus 15:31)

God is teaching Israel, and vicariously to us, that he is holy.  Furthermore, through his law, God is teaching Israel how they are to conduct their lives as the chosen people of God's theocracy.

In the nuking of Nadab and Abihu, God has made it crystal clear that he is very serious about these matters, and I am also certain that after witnessing, or hearing about the demise of Nadab and Abihu, that the message was sinking into the minds, and hearts of Israel.

The modern mind does not understand that God is to be feared.  Prior to Messiah, and his role as a priestly mediator, sin was routinely dealt with directly by God. 

Today, on this side of the cross, the Christian lives under Messiah's protective grace.  The true Christian is clothed in the righteousness of Christ.  Unfortunately, for many, we misunderstand this grace, and dream it to be a different thing altogether.

Because we do not see God nuking the Nadab's and Abihu's around us, then we interpret this to mean any number of inaccurate things.  If tomorrow, God destroyed all of those who cheated on their taxes, for example, then we would perhaps have a better understanding of God's disdain for evil, and his call for us to be holy, as he is holy.

Therefore, we must learn from God's word, apply these things to our lives, and ignore the world's watering down of the character of God. 

It is only when we understand our precarious position before God, and Messiah's intercession, that we can then truly understand the beauty of Christ.

Oh my soul, adore Christ for his protection from our holy God. 

You get that...right?  Without Messiah, we are toast.

Bible in a Year Series: How do Israel's Clean and Unclean Ritual States Apply to the 21st Century Christian?

Day #47 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Leviticus 11-13.

Reading through this next section on what is clean, and unclean, can be a real head scratcher.

"What on earth", you might ask, "does this have to do with me"?

Well, it seems to me that God is teaching Israel to be sanctified (set apart) from the ways of the world.  In our present reading we can see that God has defined three different "ritual states" that range from unclean, to clean, to holy.

Our contemporary minds, when we hear clean/unclean, tend to think in terms of hygiene.  But the ESV Study Bible notes suggest something altogether different:

"Unclean, clean, holy. Leviticus also often uses the language of “unclean,” “clean,” and “holy” differently than today. With “unclean” and “clean,” for example, most modern readers are tempted to think of that which is “nonhygienic” or “hygienic.” In Leviticus, however, these words do not refer to hygiene at all. Rather, they refer to “ritual states.” (The word “holy” is also used in many contexts to describe a ritual state.) Understanding the concept of ritual states is very important to understanding Leviticus as a whole.

Leviticus sets forth three basic ritual states: the unclean, the clean, and the holy. On the one hand, these categories guide the community with reference to the types of actions a person may (or may not) engage in, or the places that a person may (or may not) go. Those who are unclean, e.g., may not partake of a peace offering (7:20), while those who are clean may (7:19). (A modern analogy might be that of registering to vote: a person who is “registered” may vote, whereas a person who is “unregistered” may not.) There is a distinction to be made between “ritual states” and “moral states.” One who is in the ritual state of holiness is not necessarily more personally righteous than a person who is simply clean or unclean (just as a person who is “registered” to vote is not necessarily more righteous than a person who is not)."

Israel is headed for the promised land, which is currently inhabited by pagans who behave in ways that are abominable to God.  Here God is beginning to teach them to set themselves apart from the ways of those around them.

When Christ fulfilled the law, he brought with it a certain liberty to the Christian.  However, the instruction to remain set apart is still very clear:

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2)

Question to self:  when the world looks at me, do they see someone who is seeking to live in a way that brings glory to God, with no hint of legalism, or do they simply see no difference in the way I live my life from any other person on this earth?

Ouch!  Sometimes that is a painful question.

Bible in a Year Series: Nadab and Abihu Killed by Yahweh for Their Lack of Respect

Day #46 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Leviticus 8-10.

When we read the whole of the Scriptures, we will be squarely faced with the fact that we have no idea who God is.

This was a glorious day in the early life of the nation of Israel.  The tabernacle has been constructed, and all of Israel is gathered as Aaron and his sons are consecrated before Yahweh. 

Then following Moses' instructions, Aaron and his sons perform their first offering, to which it is clearly accepted by fire coming out from before the Lord and consuming the sacrifice.

What a sight this must have been!

Then, perhaps there was a little celebration.  Perhaps wine was involved.  Nonetheless, we find Adab and Abihu performing "unauthorized fire" before the Lord, and they are both instantly killed by God's consuming fire.

Imagine the day that Aaron is having.  A great day for him before the Lord, and then that same Lord kills two of his sons.

Suddenly, the thinking person realizes that their Hollywood idea of God is under attack.  How could this be?  Why is God so mean?

The problem is that a great deal of our modern culture has no idea who God really is.  Many have invented a god of their own imaginations. 

Here we see God revealing to us a part of his character.  He is completely holy, and he has prescribed a very detailed way that sinful man might cleanse themselves in such a way as to approach him.  Nadab and Abihu were most irreverent to this instruction, and it cost them their lives.

Once again, God has made a very powerful statement to Israel:  our great God is to be feared, and his precepts are to be followed to the letter.

Sometimes I wonder, is it possible that we, being granted access to the Holy of Holies with our clothed righteousness, are guilty of the same transgression?  Are we sometimes far too casual with our holy Father?  Do we have a proper reverence for his holy name?  Has Yahweh, to some, become more Santa Clause than holy Creator?

These narratives are here for our instruction.  Yahweh desires that we know his character, and here we see a part of this character in full display.

What have you learned from this?  Let's talk about it in the comments section below.

Bible in a Year Series: Understanding Israel's Five Sacrifices with 21st Century Eyes

Day #45 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Leviticus 5-7.

Today we have finished the five sacrifices, as well as the priest's ordination sacrifice.

As we read through these prescriptions, it is easy to wonder what these have to do with our lives in the 21st century.

Great question!

Here is the answer from my ESV Study Bible notes:

"The book of Leviticus is concerned with what it means to be the holy people of a holy God: it provides instruction for conduct, both in private and as members of the body of God's people, and it details the ways in which the sacrifices and priesthood are to be administered as God's gracious provision for his people's failures. Without doubt, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the culmination of salvation history, according to which he fulfilled the goals of the various offerings, the holy objects, the role of the chief priest, and the holy feasts. He also, by his resurrection, entered into his Davidic kingship and has initiated the era in which the people of God include the Gentiles and are no longer defined as a nation-state. Because of this, Christ's atoning work made obsolete the literal observance of not only the animal sacrifices and offerings but also the temple worship as a whole.

But as long as believers continue to bear their sinful nature (which they do until they die), the atoning grace of Christ does not make Leviticus irrelevant to NT believers, since principles can still be learned from the underlying laws in this book. In fact, NT writers such as the apostles Paul and Peter employ language taken from Leviticus in their exhortations to believers to follow Christ (e.g., offerings, the tabernacle, priesthood, and feasts). NT authors use the burnt offering (1 Pet. 1:19), sin offering (e.g., Rom. 8:3; Heb. 5:3; 13:11; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 2:2; 4:10), and guilt offering (possibly 1 Cor. 15:3, using Isa. 53:10) to explain what Jesus accomplished on the cross, and the peace offering to explain the Christian Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 10:16–18). Thus, the book of Leviticus serves as a constant reminder of the person and work of Jesus Christ and challenges believers to apply his gospel."

In the Sermon on the Mount, Messiah taught us that he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17).  It seems to me that a proper understanding of what has been fulfilled is certainly the duty of Yahweh's sons and daughters. 

Therefore, we press on asking the Holy Spirit to teach us, and to make more fully known to us all that Christ has accomplished.

Bible in a Year Series: Understanding Israel's Ordained Sacrificial System

Day #44 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Leviticus 1-4.

We have now stepped into the book of Leviticus in our chronological reading of the Bible.

The book of Leviticus was given to Moses, at the foot of Mount Sinai, less than a month after the tabernacle was constructed, and serves as a guide book as to how Holy God will deal with sin, and impurity to that he can live amongst his people.

As we journey through this book, we must remind ourselves that "the wages of sin is death".  Further, death came to all with the fall of man.  Yet, as we have learned, God has chosen a people, and has set in place a plan of redemption from Eden's demise.

As such, God has put into place a sacrificial system whereby something other than yourself (a bull, a lamb, a goat, etc) might give its live as an atonement for your sin, and the death you deserve.

In the beginning chapters, we will find 5 different types of sacrifices described:

• the burnt offering
• the grain offering
• the peace offering
• the sin offering
• the guilt offering

It is also important to understand that God has also given Israel the priests who are intercessors between God and the penitent, and have also been given holy roles in this process of atonement.

For the Christian, the sacrificial system has been fulfilled in Christ.  Nonetheless, someone might argue,  why then should we read the book of Leviticus?  Here is an explanation from my ESV Study Bible:

"What do these legislative texts of Leviticus have to do with the church today? At this point, only a broad picture may be presented, and it will be painted in three brushstrokes, merely offering examples of the value of Leviticus for the Christian believer. First, the sacrificial system of Leviticus has ceased for the people of God; it has been fulfilled in the coming of Christ (cf. Heb. 9:1–14, 24–28; 10:1–14). Yet studying these laws is important because they enable the reader to understand how the work of Christ saves people, since the sacrifices point to different aspects of the meaning of Christ's sacrifice of himself.

Second, the festal calendar of Israel enumerated in Leviticus (Lev. 23:1–44) has strongly shaped the Christian church's traditional calendar. The three main national pilgrim feasts of Israel are the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Booths. For those churches that follow the traditional calendar, these celebrations find their climax in Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost. To fully understand the Christian celebrations, one must see their initial purpose in the OT. At the same time, some aspects of the legislation in Leviticus (such as the laws regulating clean and unclean foods) had the goal of separating Israel from the other nations. Although this separation has been done away with in the Christian era, these laws still teach the people of God to be morally clean (see note on 11:1–47).

Third, the entire Levitical Holiness Code (chs. 17–27) deals with sanctification, i.e., the idea of holiness affecting how one lives in the covenant community. The NT applies to Christians the same principle of life stated in Leviticus 11:44, “be holy, for I am holy” (quoted in 1 Pet. 1:16). In fact, many of the moral requirements reflected in the Holiness Code reveal the kinds of moral conduct that are still either pleasing or displeasing to God (cf., e.g., Lev. 19:11–18, 35–36). On the other hand, several details of the Holiness Code concern more symbolic aspects of holiness that should no longer be followed in the Christian era (such as laws prohibiting garments of two kinds of cloth, 19:19; prohibiting the shaving of the edges of one's beard, 21:5; and excluding people with physical defects from presenting offerings, 21:17–23). Further, the NT envisions a people of God that transcends national boundaries, and thus it dissolves the bond between the specifically theocratic system of government that was OT Israel. Therefore, current civil governments need not replicate the civil laws specific to the Mosaic theocracy (such as capital punishment for adultery in 20:10 or for blasphemy in 24:16, or the Sabbath year and Jubilee year in 25:1–22), although of course all governments must pursue justice (and Leviticus may certainly help Christians develop their notions of justice)."

I am looking forward to what God might teach us in this journey through the book of Leviticus.

Bible in a Year Series: Exodus Concludes with God Dwelling Among His People

Day #43 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Exodus 39-40.

Today we finish the book of Exodus, and what a spectacular ending it is!

We must remember that the Bible describes God's redemption of man.  Back in Genesis chapter three we wept as we gazed upon the horrid fall of man, and man's eternal separation from God.

Today we witness, in the tabernacle, and later in the temple, in Messiah, and finally in the church, a great foreshadowing of Revelation 21:1-7:

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son."

When I read these verses, I feel a great longing to be in the presence of God's dwelling.  I understand that God now dwells in his church, and that the Holy Spirit now dwells in me, God's tabernacle.  But, today at least, this seems to be more head knowledge than heart knowledge.

If the Holy Spirit resides in me, shouldn't that be a significant experience, and relationship?  Please don't misunderstand, to the best of my ability I am saying that I desire more of God. 

When God appeared to Israel, in the glory of his cloud, it certainly made a monumental impact on his people.  Do you think its wrong to desire that God come this close to us, in this day and time?

I not talking about signs and wonders.  I'm talking about God who lives in me, having the best of relationships.  Am I making any sense?

Bible in a Year Series: Construction of God's Tabernacle

Day #42 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Exodus 36-38.

What a scene this is!

This all started with God's command to remember the Sabbath, but then during the other six days God put in the hearts of the people the desire to contribute the materials, and the skills to build his tabernacle with all its appointments.

Isn't this a scene of how today's church should operate?

Further, is this not a scene of what heaven might be like?  I suspect we won't be sitting around on clouds strumming harps, but joyfully engaged in work that will make heavens economy perfectly hum along.

The other thing that strikes me with these particular passages is the attention to detail.  God gave Moses very specific instructions on how his house should be build, and here we see the instructions repeated through the skillful workers hands.

Consider the skillful details that God commands to keep his universe in careful balance.  Today's pagan minds dream that man controls the ozone layer, and that we, for our own security, must become green.

Certainly we are to be good stewards of what God has given us, but it is God who will determine the future of the ozone layer, not man. A single molecule travels neither this way, or that, without God's willing it so.

Tomorrow we will see God back living amongst his people.  Take some time and dream of what this sight must have looked like.  Can you even begin to imagine how God is going to descend upon his people?

Bible in a Year Series: Does God Ever Change His Mind?

 Day #41 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible:  Exodus 33-35.

In today's reading, after yesterday's episode with the golden calf, it seems as if God has decided not to dwell with his people, and is meeting Moses in a tent "far off" from the camp.

Moses, in shocking directness seems to confront God, on behalf of Israel (if you won't forgive, then blot my name from your book!), and winds up back on the mountain for another 40 day fast in the presence of God.

Interestingly, Moses comes back down the mountain with a face shining so brightly, from being in the presence of God, that the people were afraid to go near him. 

Because of this, Moses would veil his face when he was outside of the Tent of Meeting.

I was reading Spurgeon's take on this scene, and he likened the scene to the veils on our own hearts when we don't spend time in the presence of God.

Without a daily diet of God's company, and the Holy Spirit's instruction, then we too will be veiled from the presence, and a proper understanding of God's desires.

In these passages, I also find myself still scratching my head as I view the dialog between God and Moses.  It seems that God was rightfully upset, but through the intercession of Moses, changes his mind?

Does God ever change his mind?  Isn't he immutable?  Yes of course he is immutable, then how are we to  understand this interaction be God and Moses?

Your thoughts?