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The Other Offerings

Jim Butler · 2023-05-24 · Leviticus 2–7 · 7,230 words · 43 min

Studies in Exodus

You can turn in your Bibles to 
the book of Leviticus. Leviticus chapter 2. This is 
either going to be a very long study or a very brief study. 
We're going to do chapter 2 verse 1 to chapter 7 verse 38. So there's all the sacrifices 
that we have, the legislation concerning the sacrifices. Specifically 
what you have is the instructions for the people, the worshipper, 
in 1.1-6.7, and then instructions for the priests in 6.8-7.38. So that's sort of the breakdown. And then in chapter 8 we see 
the institution proper of the priesthood, we see sacrifice 
offered up legitimately in chapter 9, and then the Nadab and Abihu 
incident in chapter 10. So God willing we'll take up 
that section Next week, but tonight we're going to look at the offerings 
and I'm going to basically rehearse what we did last time. The burnt 
offering is indicated in chapter one. The rest of the offerings 
are very similar in nature. So as I said, a brief review. 
in terms of the burnt offering and then just sort of plug that 
into each of the subsequent offerings. A few variations and a few differences 
along the way, but for the most part the routine or the procedure 
is very similar. But I'll read beginning in chapter 
2 at verse 1 to the end of chapter 2. When anyone offers a grain 
offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he 
shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it. He shall 
bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests, one of whom shall take 
from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. 
and the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an 
offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord. The rest of 
the grain offering shall be Aaron's and his son's. It is most holy 
of the offerings to the Lord made by fire. And if you bring 
as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be 
unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened 
wafers anointed with oil. But if your offering is a grain 
offering baked in a pan, it shall be a fine flour, unleavened, 
mixed with oil. You shall break it in pieces 
and pour oil on it. It is a grain offering. If your 
offering is a grain offering baked in a covered pan, it shall 
be made of fine flour with oil. "'You shall bring the grain offering 
"'that is made of these things to the Lord. "'And when it is 
presented to the priest, "'he shall bring it to the altar. 
"'Then the priest shall take from the grain offering "'a memorial 
portion and burn it on the altar. "'It is an offering made by fire, 
"'a sweet aroma to the Lord. "'And what is left of the grain 
offering "'shall be Aaron's and his son's. "'It is most holy 
of the offerings "'to the Lord made by fire. No grain offering 
which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you 
shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the 
Lord made by fire. As for the offering of the first 
fruits, you shall offer them to the Lord, but they shall not 
be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma. And every offering of 
your grain offering, you shall season with salt. You shall not 
allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from 
your grain offering. With all your offerings, you 
shall offer salt. If you offer a grain offering 
of your first fruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain 
offering of your first fruits green heads of grain roasted 
on the fire, grain beaten from full heads, and you shall put 
oil on it and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering. 
Then the priest shall burn the memorial portion, part of its 
beaten grain and part of its oil, with all the frankincense, 
as an offering made by fire to the Lord. Then if you just turn 
over to chapter 7, we have a summary statement in verses 37 and 38. So 737, this is the law of the 
burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass 
offering, the consecrations and the sacrifice of the peace offering. 
which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day when 
He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings 
to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai. Amen. So going back 
to chapter 1 specifically, remember the burnt offering was the first 
one dealt with in this particular sachet. And it is the only offering 
from which the priest does not eat. In other words, each of 
the other offerings, it serves a twofold purpose. It not only 
is given up to God as a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord, but the priests 
are able to live based on the sacrifices and the gifts and 
the offerings that were made. And so each of the offerings 
specified in chapters 1 to 6, the priest got to eat from except 
for the burnt offering. It was wholly consumed. The skin 
was saved, however, for the priest. Now, when we look at this, we 
see a general pattern. You see, first of all, the presentation 
of the sacrifice. Notice in chapter 1 at verse 
3, the presentation of his sacrifice in verse 3. If his offering is 
a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without 
blemish. He shall offer it of his own 
free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before 
the Lord. So if his offering is a burnt 
sacrifice of the herd, or then dropping down, it could be from 
the flocks, and then dropping down, it could be from birds. 
Depending upon the economic status of the worshipper, that would 
be what was involved in terms of the actual sacrifice. So persons 
that had a herd, persons that had a flock, they would take 
from those. If they were too poor to have that, then they 
would use birds. So they would take a particular 
animal out of their flock, and here we see that it's a male 
without blemish. So, specifically, in this sacrifice, 
it had to be a male without blemish. And then, as well, when we come 
to consider that, we think of the male promised in Genesis 
3, verse 15, the Messiah, the Deliverer, the one who would, 
through his sufferings and death, be the one who would save his 
people from their sins. As I mentioned last time when 
we were covering chapter 1, there's not always a lot of explanation 
as we move through these sacrifices. This is how you do it, and this 
is particularly why you do it. Now, I would suggest it's because 
the worshippers knew more than we do. So they needed the legislation 
and the details in terms of the how or the procedure. But when 
it comes to the actual content in terms of each of these particular 
sacrifices, there's enough in the text to guide us, but it's 
not exhaustive. And so it's good for us to look 
at the New Testament and see what this Old Testament legislation 
pointed to and use the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to help 
us interpret some of these passages. So the male without blemish, 
if this is typology, we know the anti-type is the male, the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who of course is without blemish. In fact, 
Peter refers to him in that way in 1 Peter 1 and verse 19. So he's a lamb without blemish. So the sacrifice involved a male 
without blemish. The people were to present their 
best. As Gordon Winham says, sacrifice 
was at the heart of Old Testament worship. An essential ingredient 
of sacrifice was that it had to be costly. As David said, 
I will not offer burnt offering to the Lord my God, which cost 
me nothing, 2 Samuel 24, 24. The same sentiment underlies 
the remark that the suffering should be from the herd or from 
the flock, which meant in practice young bulls, sheep, and goats. 
The sacrifices were to be of domestic animals, not wild animals 
or game. According to Deuteronomy 14.5, 
game could be eaten if correctly slaughtered, but not offered 
as sacrifice, since it costs nothing. Furthermore, only perfect 
animals were acceptable in worship. Only the best is good enough 
for God. The prophet Malachi later told 
those who offered second-rate animals that they were despising 
the Lord's name and polluting his table. So it's very important 
that we understand. This is typology pointing forward 
to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So 
we learn a lot in terms of what God demands, and it underscores, 
of course, His holiness and His righteousness. And then notice 
as well, specifically in verse 3, it says, "...he shall offer 
it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting 
before the Lord." So his heart must be right. He's not just 
engaged in empty ritual. He's not just engaged in formalism 
or externalism only. It's not just about the procedure. 
Bring your animal, cut its throat, and hand it over to the priest. 
No, it had to be a free will offering. The heart of the man 
had to be involved. Now, of course, not everybody 
in Old Covenant Israel was saved. You would have those that would 
come, and it would be only external. It would only be formal. It would 
only be ritualistic. But for the remnant in Israel, 
this was an act of worship. The remnant in Israel, this was 
a time for their growth in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord 
God Most High. It was a time to worship and 
express their faith in the living and true God and in His promises 
concerning the coming of His Son. in order to save them from 
their sins. And again, Malachi deals with 
this empty, ritualistic approach to the sacrificial system. It 
was never condoned in the Old Testament. We as New Covenant 
believers think that that was just the way that it was. It 
was a ritualistic approach. You just, you know, You brought 
the right ingredients, you did the proper procedure, and everything 
was accepted by God. No. If they came without the 
heart, if they came in the attitude that we see typified or demonstrated 
in the book of Malachi, that was an outrage to God Most High. He condemned them for that. And 
so we see the heart of the worshipper is involved in this act of worship. And then notice he's at the door 
of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord. He couldn't 
go all the way into either the holy place or the Holy of Holies, 
but rather he could go into that courtyard, and at the door of 
the tabernacle it was there that he would then place his hands 
on the sacrifice. And most likely it was a firm 
placement of the hands on the sacrifice. And this showed, or 
this was most likely joined by prayer. Again, it was an empty 
ritual. It was something that he was 
conscious of. It was something that he was about. In the Day 
of Atonement process, in Leviticus chapter 16, when that second 
goat is trotted out, the priest lays his hands upon that goat 
and he confesses the sins of Israel and then he drives that 
goat out into the wilderness. So we ought to imagine and we 
ought to think that they are actively involved in worship. 
They're praying, they're seeking the Lord, they're trying to please 
the Lord in terms of the system that he had put in place. As 
well, this placement of the hands is duplicated in the other sacrifices. So again, that's why we're not 
going to go through each of these chapters and go through each 
of the sort of details involved. And then the placement of the 
hands represents substitution. And I think 1621 really sheds 
light on that. You can turn there. Again, it's 
not the exact same sacrifice, but I think that's what's going 
on. Substitution is what the animal is about. So without the 
shedding of blood, there is no remission. And so God demands 
the payment of blood when it comes to atonement for sin or 
satisfaction of divine justice. If you notice in 1620, and when 
he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, the tabernacle 
of mating and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall 
lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over 
it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their 
transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the 
head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by 
the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself 
all their iniquities to an uninhabited land. and he shall release the 
goat in the wilderness." So the doctrine of substitution. You 
see, substitutionary atonement taught very clearly in the sacrificial 
system in the book of Leviticus. So that's the typical significance. When we get to the anti-type 
in our Lord Jesus Christ, we have to appreciate that element 
or aspect of his finished work. It was substitutionary atonement. He stood in our place. He took 
our place on that cross and satisfied by His own sufferings divine 
justice for us. So this doctrine of substitutionary 
atonement is crucial for the life of the church. It's crucial 
for the life of the sinner. Without a substitute, we perish 
and we die. without the substitute, then 
it's us that must pay that penalty for our sin. So the blessedness 
of the Christian gospel is the Lamb of God who takes away the 
sin of the world. The Lamb of God does that by 
identifying with us. The Word became flesh and He 
dwelt among us. He lives for us, He dies for 
us, and then He's raised again for us. So this doctrine of substitution, 
it's built into the old covenant sacrifices, it typifies the new 
covenant, that specific transaction where God made Christ, who knew 
no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness 
of God in Him. Imagine that, 2 Corinthians 5.21, 
God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. That doesn't 
mean that Jesus actually became a sinner. It doesn't mean that 
Jesus was guilty of adultery, or guilty of fornication, or 
guilty of idolatry, or any of those sorts of things. It's the 
doctrine of imputation. God takes our sin and imputes 
it upon the Savior. And so in the Savior our sin 
is punished. He is punished in our stead, 
He is punished in our place, and that's what this sacrificial 
system promised in terms of typology. And then notice, the purpose 
of His sacrifice unto the Lord according to 4b. Notice, then 
He shall put His hand on the head of the burnt offering, and 
it will be accepted on His behalf to make atonement for Him. Now, 
the virtue of Christ's work availed for the people in the Old Testament. 
We learn that from Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 15. The work of Christ 
is that alone by which any sinners ever entered into heaven. But 
nevertheless, this typified that. So the worshiper did have peace 
of conscience. He did have that cleansing of 
the flesh. He did have that sort of restoration 
to covenant status with both God and with his fellows. So 
there was atonement made on behalf of the worshipping sinner. And 
then notice, as well, you have the slaughter of the sacrifice. 
Last time we saw that this was a little bit ambiguous. Look 
at verse 5. It says, he shall kill the bull before the Lord. 
Does that mean the worshipper or does that mean the priest? 
It means the worshipper. The worshipper kills the animal 
and then turns it over to the priest so that the priest can 
then do what he is supposed to do with it. Again, Wenham says, 
the worshipper brings the animal, kills it, skins it, or guts it, 
and chops it up. The priest sprinkles the blood 
on the altar and places the dismembered carcass on the fire. So you see, 
the sacrifice involved was real. I mean, you took an animal, a 
male out of your flock, which was probably the strong, well, 
it is the stronger of the animals, and it was without blemish. It 
was a very valuable item. Again, I think we have this idea 
that like we have cars and we have garages full of stuff, that 
Israelite society was like that as well. I seriously doubt that. The provision to bring birds 
is there because poverty was a real life situation. So for somebody to take an animal 
out of their flock and then to take it down to the tabernacle 
to cut its throat and then turn it over to the priest, that was 
sacrifice. That was something that was evidenced 
or demonstrable that you were partying with something. There 
was a pinch to you. There was an effect upon you. But the fact that you killed 
it, skinned it, gutted it, and chopped it up also showed a certain 
amount, and no pun intended, skin in the game. You were a 
participant in this activity. in terms of this ritual in order 
to have peace with God and with your fellows in the covenant 
nation. So the slaughter of the sacrifice 
and then the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice according 
to 5b, the worshiper kills the animal and then the priest sprinkles 
the blood of the animal. And then in the burnt offering, 
the entirety is burned. The entirety is given up to God 
Almighty, except 7, 8 tells us the priest who offers anyone's 
burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of 
the burnt offering which he has offered. So everything other 
than the skin is presented up by the priest to God. So the worshipper skins the animal, 
cuts it in pieces, the priest prepares the fire on the altar, 
then the pieces are placed on the altar by the priest, and 
then the entirety of the animal is burned. Now when we move through 
these other sacrifices, that's not the case. The one sacrifice 
where the worshipper gets to participate alongside the priest 
is in the peace offering. That's a fellowship offering. 
That's a time of joy and thanksgiving and gratitude expressed to God 
for all that He has done. And then the language that is 
used here in chapter 1, and you'll see it in chapter 2 as well, 
this idea, and chapter 3, this sweet aroma to the Lord. We saw 
that in our study in Ephesians. The Lord Jesus Christ offered 
Himself as an offering and a sacrifice, a sweet aroma, to the Lord. And 
that indicates the acceptance of God, by God, of that particular 
sacrifice. God doesn't have a nose like 
we do. He doesn't have that sort of olfactory sense where there's 
this pleasantness in terms of creaturely smells. The idea is 
that it's an efficacious sacrifice, it has the approval of God Most 
High, and for God Most High it's a sweet aroma unto the Lord. So that's the burnt offering 
in chapter 1. The second one is in chapter 
2 and that's the grain offering. Now the connection with the burnt 
offering is that there was always a grain offering in connection 
with the burnt offering, but there would be grain offerings 
at other times as well. And it's these two offerings 
that were daily, morning and evening. So this tabernacle got 
a lot of use. The temple got a lot of use. 
It wasn't the case that it was only the one day, the the day 
of atonement where you came to the tabernacle or to the temple 
and did business. This was a bloody place. Atonement 
is bloody work and atonement kept going day in and day out 
because of the sin of the children of Israel and because of the 
holiness of God Almighty. So again with reference to the 
grain offering or some refer to it as a cereal offering. I 
think the old King James has meat offering here, but it's 
a grain offering. And of course, this would provide 
a portion for the priest. So the priest took a small portion 
to burn on the altar, and then the priest kept the rest. Remember, 
in the tribal allotments, the priests don't get their own land. 
The priests don't get their own pieces of property. The priests 
aren't out there with a tribal allotment of land so they can 
grow their own food. They are dependent on the kindness 
of God through this sacrificial system and on the obedience of 
the people in terms of their sustenance and in terms of their 
life. The next one is in chapter 3 and when you look later on, 
I mentioned that the legislation breaks down into instructions 
for the worshipper, 1.1 to 6.7, and then instructions for the 
priest, 6.8 to 7.38, you'll see the correspondence. When you 
get to the priestly part, you'll see these same sacrifices treated, 
and the priest directed how they're supposed to deal with this particular 
sacrifice. So with reference to the peace 
offering, some have called it a fellowship offering. With reference 
to this, you see it indicated in chapter 3, you'll notice the 
distribution of the portions. The Lord gets a portion, the 
priest gets a portion, and then as well the worshippers get a 
portion of this. So it's a time for the worshipper 
and for the priest to eat and enjoy the food that God has blessed 
them with together. And a curious statement, verse 
17, chapter 3, this shall be a perpetual statute throughout 
your generations and all your dwellings. I would suggest that 
we should understand that based on covenant. based on covenant. As long as there's an old covenant, 
and as long as there is a people in this old covenant, this is 
a perpetual statute. In other words, it's not perpetual 
in the new covenant. It's not something that we continue 
to duplicate or replicate now. The Lamb of God has fulfilled 
all that was specified here. So when you see statements like 
this scattered throughout the Old Testament, this shall be 
a perpetual statute, or a forever statute, or a forever obligation. Think of it in terms of covenant. 
As long as the Old Covenant is in play, then there must be this 
sacrificial system. But when that Old Covenant is 
obsolete, when Christ has come to fulfill the obligations laid 
upon Him by His Father, Well, then we don't go backwards in 
covenant history, and we don't go backwards in the sacrificial 
system. And then as well, notice, you 
shall eat neither fat nor blood. That's going to be developed 
later specifically with reference to the blood. Why the fat? That 
just seems to be God's portion. So, some of these things, like 
I say, people have answers and responses, but when you search 
the text carefully, they're not always as as clearly laid out 
as perhaps we would like in our situation on this side of this 
activity. The next is in chapter 4, so 
from 4.1 to 5.13. This is called the Sin Offering. The Sin Offering, and the focus 
is on atonement for unintentional sins. So unintentional sins, 
those things that you would do that would bring you into a rupture 
in terms of relationship with God or with the covenant community. Now that's going to be dealt 
with in great detail as we move out of the sacrificial legislation 
and on into cleanliness and holiness and the holiness code and that 
sort of a thing. You couldn't be defiled. There 
was just a whole lot of stipulation and specification. So, chapter 
4, 1 to chapter 5, 13, the sin offering, the primary focus is 
on unintentional sins. And notice, it affects everybody 
in the community. So, in chapter 4, verses 3 to 
12, deals with the priest. If the priest sins unintentionally, 
then this is the sacrifice you're supposed to bring. The next is 
in verses 13 to 21, the congregation of Israel. If the whole congregation 
of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from 
the eyes of the assembly and they have done something against 
any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which should 
not be done and are guilty. So you've got the priest, you've 
got the congregation, and then notice thirdly the leaders of 
the congregation in verses 22 to 26. When a ruler has sinned, 
verse 22, and done something unintentionally against any of 
the commandments of the Lord as God in anything which should 
not be done, and is guilty. So you see, God builds into the 
sacrificial system this offering that is calculated to protect 
and restore the people from these unintentional sins. And then 
notice the layman in Israel. So drop down to verse 27. If anyone of the common people 
sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the 
commandments of the Lord in anything which ought not to be done and 
is guilty. So you've got the various persons 
or the various parties involved, and you've got the specifics 
of the sacrifice laid out. Now in this particular one, you 
could use female animals without blemish. They were authorized 
according to verses 28 and 32. And you'll see that the primary 
emphasis is on atonement and to bring forgiveness. So look 
at chapter 4, verse 20. He shall do with the bull as 
he did with the bull as a sin offering. Thus he shall do with 
it. So the priest shall make atonement 
for them, and it shall be forgiven them. Same thing in verse 26. 
and he shall burn all its fat on the altar, like the sacrifice 
of the peace offering, so the priest shall make atonement for 
him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him." It's 
repeated in verse 31, and then again in verse 35. So this atonement, 
this covering, this satisfaction of divine justice, is the ground 
upon which that forgiveness can come. So when God's justice is 
satisfied, When that atonement is wrought, then forgiveness 
freely flows from God to the sinner. And again, as you look 
through this, and as you work your way through it, I know when 
you read it, it seems very repetitious, it really sort of emphasizes 
many of the same sorts of things, but it does instill in us this 
appreciation for the holiness of God, and for the sinfulness 
of man, and for the fact that God has built a mechanism into 
place so that we can have peace with God, so that we can have 
fellowship. So this old covenant setting, 
though it wasn't the fulfillment or the realization involved with 
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, it nevertheless had a 
mechanism built in. so that any rupture or breach 
of peace between God and the sinner, there was this in place 
so that they could have that sort of peace with God. 514, the guilt offering. The 
focus here is primarily on intentional sins. So the sin offering is 
atonement for unintentional sins. The guilt or trespass offering 
is more for the intentional sins. And one of the things that you 
see here is that it's not just sacrifice that is demanded. We 
don't forget the rest of the law code that we have seen up 
to this point. So look at chapter 6, specifically 
at verse 1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, 
saying, If a person sins and commits a trespass against the 
Lord by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him 
for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he 
is extorted from his neighbor, or if he has found what was lost 
and lies concerning it, and swears falsely in any one of these things 
that a man may do in which he sins, then it shall be, because 
he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he 
has stolen. So we don't forget that. It's 
not just, okay, give your trespass offering or your guilt offering 
and the slate will be wiped clean. No, the law mandated and the 
law specified and stipulated that if you wronged a fellow 
in that covenant community, you had to make it right. So worship 
did not suspend, sacrifice did not supersede the obligation 
of sinner to sinner to make things right. In a criminal case, the 
criminal was always liable and was always subject to obey the 
law of God in terms of restoration, in terms of repayment. So back 
to verse four. Then it shall be, because he 
has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has 
stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered 
to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, or 
all that about which he has sworn falsely. And then notice, he 
shall restore its full value, add one fifth more to it, and 
give it to whomever it belongs on the day of his trespass offering. And you see the pro-victim thrust 
of God's law. He didn't just give this to the 
priests. He didn't give this to the state. 
He didn't give this to, you know, some special kolakshet. He gave 
it to the man that he wronged. He gave it to the victim of his 
crime. And that's where we know and we see that emphasis on pro-victim, 
the fact that biblical law is pro-victim. So he does this, 
he makes restitution, he adds one-fifth more to it, and then 
notice in verse 6, "...and he shall bring his trespass offering 
to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation 
as a trespass offering to the priest." So the priest shall 
make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven 
for any one of these things that he may have done in which he 
trespasses. So I think the take-home lesson 
here, at least at this point, is there is forgiveness with 
God that he may be feared. Now we know that obviously in 
this new covenant era, but they knew it in the old covenant era 
as well. In fact, Psalm 130, if you, Lord, 
should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is 
forgiveness with you that thou mayest be feared. Now the basis 
and ultimate ground of that forgiveness is the blood of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. It's signified and it's emblematic 
through this sacrificial system. So it would feed the faith, it 
would increase the love of the worshipper for his God. It would 
cause him to see the graciousness and the mercy and the kindness 
of God that he builds into this sort of covenant life, a particular 
apparatus that is intent on dealing with man's sin, whether it be 
an unintentional sin or whether it be an intentional sin. The 
fact that there is forgiveness and the fact that there is atonement 
even for an intentional sin. Now, that's obviously the good 
news of the gospel. We don't preach it, hey, go out 
and sin and do all this wickedness intentionally because there's 
full free forgiveness, but there's a sense where that is true. The 
things that you have done, the sins that you have committed, 
the violations and transgressions of God's law, God has provided 
an apparatus. God has provided a remedy. He's provided hope. He's provided 
help. And it is in the person and work of His dear Son. So 
there is forgiveness with God that He may be feared. It's a 
blessed statement that we find all throughout the Bible, both 
Old and New Testament. And so then 6, 8 to 7, 38, you've 
got specific instructions for the priests. Again, in chapter 
6, verses 8 to 13, you've got the burnt offering. Chapter 6, 
verses 14 to 23, you've got the grain offering. Chapter 6, 24 
to 30, you've got the sin offering. And then on the heels of that, 
in chapter 7, verses 1 to 10, the trespass offering or guilt 
offering. And then the peace offering according 
to chapter 7, verses 11 to 36. And then that summary statement, 
I think, encapsulates what we've touched on before, the regulative 
principle of worship. So notice in verse 37, this is 
the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, 
the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace 
offering. Notice, it's not the suggestions, it's not the recommendations, 
it's not, you know, I'm a holy God, you're a sinful man, if 
you think about it and you feel like it, you know, kill an animal 
and bring the blood and we'll sort of make a deal. No, this 
is the law. And this, I think, needs to be 
kept in mind when we move to chapter 10 to the Nadab and Abihu 
incident. In fact, look at chapter 10. 
We're gonna look at it in more detail, God willing, next week. 
But look at chapter 10 at verse 1. The Nadab and Abihu, the sons 
of Aaron, Each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense 
on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which he had 
not commanded them." Now there's some question in terms of what 
was it that they did wrong. Look at chapter 10, verse 9. 
Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you nor your sons with 
you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. So 
some suggest that Nadab and Abihu had tippled a bit before they 
went into the tabernacle, and as a result, God killed them. 
Others say, no, that's probably not what's in view here. The 
fact that the Day of Atonement references this has led others 
to conclude that what Nadab and Abihu did was they tried to go 
into the Holy of Holies. But whatever we might think, 
the specific nature of the crime involved was some form of disobedience. So we see that in verse 1. So 
they put incense on their censer and offered profane fire before 
the Lord, which he had not commanded them. Okay? That's the important 
facet. That's the important aspect that 
we need to discover here. So back in chapter 7 at verse 
37, this is the law of the burnt offering. So this is the apparatus, 
this is the structure, this is the mechanism. You're not free 
to change it. You're not free to modify it. You're not free to sort of supplement 
it. You are necessitated by God, 
the command of God, to obey. That's what's involved in this 
mechanism. It's obedience. You're not free 
to sort of adapt this or adapt that or do whatever it is you 
feel led to do. This is the law of God relative 
to the worship of God. So we've got this law concerning 
the offerings. We know, again, that it's the 
law given by God Most High. So it's mediated through Moses. 
We talk about the law of Moses, and not for bad reason. He was 
the spokesman for God. But he didn't originate that 
law. Moses didn't go up to Sinai with a pen and a paper and think, 
you know, what am I going to do for these people in terms 
of a mechanism to bring them peace of conscience with God. 
No, he goes up to the mount to receive from God commandment. 
And so notice verse 38, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount 
Sinai. So we need to make sure whenever 
we talk about the Law of Moses, we're not talking about the Law 
of Moses as if it originated with him, as if he was the architect, 
as if he was the one that came up with the Ten Commandments, 
and then the Judicial Law in Exodus 21-23, and then the Ceremonial 
Law in Exodus 25-40. And then this detailed legislation 
on sacrifices. You know, Moses just, you know, 
had this great mind, and he had this imagination, and he was, 
well, no, no, no, no. He received this from God. So 
what you read here in terms of this legislation is legislation, 
and it does come from God Almighty. And then notice it is to regulate 
the conduct of the people of Israel. So it says, which the 
Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day when he commanded 
the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the Lord in 
the wilderness of Sinai. So this law was to regulate the 
conduct of Israel. This law was not up for grabs. It was not debatable. It was 
simply received by the Israelite and then put into practice in 
terms of obedience. So when we jump to the New Covenant, 
as I mentioned, we don't have an Exodus 25 to 40 that details 
for us how we're supposed to worship God on Sunday morning 
from 11 to 1230. But we do have general instruction 
and instruction that we're not at liberty to to dispense with, 
or to modify, or to change. Very simply, we sing the Word, 
we pray the Word, we read the Word, we preach the Word, and 
we see the Word in the sacraments. Very Word-based, and this is 
the emphasis that you find in the New Testament in terms of 
worship. But the same necessity comes 
to us in the New Covenant as it did in the Old Covenant. If 
God commands in the New Testament epistles how we're supposed to 
worship Him, then it's just the same as if we were standing at 
the base of Sinai and He's telling us how to bring our sin offering 
and how to cut its throat and how to present it up to the priest 
so that he can then take it up and burn it on the altar. So 
when it comes to worship, God is the one who authorizes, God 
is the one who legislates, God is the one who gives the detailed 
instruction And as I said, in the absence of 25 to 30 in Exodus, 
you don't have an Ephesians 8 to 40 that says, okay, here's exactly 
what a church service should look like. But when we come to 
those churchly texts, and we see what churches are supposed 
to be doing according to those churchly texts, and then we look 
at the book of Acts, and we see how the church conducted themselves 
on the day of Pentecost, there is enough information in the 
New Testament to mandate for the church today how we're supposed 
to worship. And we have the same obligation 
that Israel did at the foot of Sinai to obey God and to approach 
Him in the manner in which He demands and in which He commands. 
So you probably have lots of questions. I would suggest a 
good commentary. John Gill would be good for any 
of this. Matthew Poole is a bit briefer. 
There's a very helpful book on biblical theology of the book 
of Leviticus by a fellow named Michael Morales. It's called, 
Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of God? And he puts the book 
of Leviticus in that larger sort of biblical theological context. It's all about meeting God. It's all about entering into 
the holy of holies. and communing with God. So he 
has a biblical theology on the book of Leviticus. It's very 
helpful, but he does not get into each of the sacrifices. He deals with the burnt offering 
and then theologizes for much of the rest of the book, but 
it's very helpful. The the modern commentator Gordon 
Wenham Thus far from my observation. It's a it's a stellar commentary 
on the book of Leviticus So so in the absence of a lot of details 
tonight, I refer you to those good books. We'll get more details 
coming next week, but when we get to the scabs and You know 
yellow this and hair that we're probably not going to get real 
detailed there either. We'll lump some of those skin 
diseases together I didn't mean that. Yeah, we will. We'll lump 
them together. So there's going to be stuff in Leviticus that 
you'll probably want a good commentary to sort of accompany this study. 
Did you have a question? Okay, it's on there? It's on 
the website? Okay, good. Okay. Alright, so just in conclusion, 
see the emphasis on atonement, see the emphasis on the holiness 
of God, and the emphasis on the sinfulness of man, and the provision 
of God for sinful man, even in a book like Leviticus. I imagine 
a lot of Bible readers, they start off in Genesis, Wow, this 
is great, they get to Exodus, they kind of get to the end, 
and they go, wow, that's tough sweating. And then they come 
to Leviticus, and they're like, what is happening here? Well, 
what is happening is that God has made a way of approach for 
guilty sinners to come into his presence. So that is good news. Well, I'll pray, and then if 
there's any comments, we can talk about that. Our Father in 
heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for The New 
Covenant, we thank you for the beauty of Christ our Lord, that 
Lamb of God who does take away the sin of the world. We thank 
you for this Old Covenant as well, and for what you taught 
the children of Israel back then concerning the Messiah. We thank 
you for the entirety of your Word, and we see that continual 
emphasis on your holiness and on our sinfulness, but on the 
way that you make provision into your presence through blood atonement. We bless you and we praise you 
that you have given us that saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
that you have indeed forgiven us of all of our sins, and God, 
we just pray that you would help us and conform us even more unto 
the image of your beloved Son. We ask that you would watch over 
us in the remainder of this week. Again, bless all of our brothers 
and sisters who have needs, and we just commend the saints to 
you and to the word of your grace, and we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. All right. You could ask questions. It might not be as nice. Yeah. 
Yeah. Oh, yeah. For me, too, especially on the 
Day of Atonement when the goat gets sent out into the wilderness. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Take a water.