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if you came in late there's um you can turn in your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 16. we actually finished Leviticus 16 before we broke for summer I do want to read the chapter however and then we're going to review what we've done up to this point so for some of you it's going to be probably the fifth or sixth review because we do or we have reviewed the material several times but I want to read Leviticus 16 the day of atonement in many ways this is Central with reference to the book itself with reference to a major theme in all of scripture how does sinful man access the presence of a holy God so beginning in chapter 16 verse 1 now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they offered profane fire before the Lord and died and the Lord said to Moses tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the holy place inside the veil before the mercy seat which is on the ark lest ye God for I will appear in the cloud above The Mercy Seat thus Aaron shall come into the holy place with the blood of a young bull is a sin offer and of a ram as a burnt offering he shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body he shall be girded with a linen Sash and with the linen turban he shall be attired These Are Holy garments therefore he shall wash his body and water and put them on and he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel to kids off the goats as a sin offering and one ram is a burnt offering Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle the meeting then Aaron Shall Pass lots for the Two Goats one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat and Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering but the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement upon it and to let it go as the state go into the wilderness and Aaron shall bring the bowl of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself then he shall take a sensor full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine and bring it inside the veil and he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord that the Lord that the cloud of incense May cover The Mercy Seat that is on the testimony lest he die he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his fingers seven times then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering which is for the people bring its blood inside the veil do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy see so he shall make atonement for the holy place because the uncleanness of the children of Israel real and because of their transgressions for all their sins and so he shall do for the Tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness there shall be no man in the Tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy place until he comes out that he may make atonement for himself for his household and for the Assembly of Israel and he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar all around then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his fingers seven times cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel and when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place the Tabernacle of meeting and the altar he shall bring the live goat Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat confess over at 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 iniquity all their iniquities to an uninhabited land and he shall release the goat in the wilderness then Aaron shall come into the Tabernacle of meeting shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place and shall leave them there and he shall wash his body with water in a holy Place put on his garments come out come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people the fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the Altar and he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward he may come into the camp the bowl for the sin offering and the Goat for the sin offering whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place shall be carried outside the camp and they shall burn in the fire their skins their flesh and they're awful then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward he may come into the camp this shall be a statute forever for you in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you for on that day the priest shall make atonement for you to cleanse you that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord it is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you and you shall afflict your souls it is a statute forever and the priest who is Anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father's place shall make atonement and put on the linen clothes and the holy garments then he shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary and he shall make atonement for the Tabernacle of meeting and for the Altar and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly this shall be an everlasting statute for you to make atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year and he did as the Lord commanded Moses amen well Leviticus is connected to those books which have preceded we'll look at that in just a moment but chapter 16 as I said is Central in terms not only of the book I think that Morales and is very helpful book who shall Ascend the mountain of the Lord shows that literally it is Central it's also Central in terms of the pentateuch but theologically it is Central how does sinful man gain access to the presence of a holy God the emphasis is on its own man blood atonement as Morales says elsewhere Israel was taught that the way to access to a holy God was through a bloody knife and a smoking altar in other words sinful man cannot just wander into the presence of God we see how this obviously reflects or points forward to or prefigures the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ The Book of Leviticus is very important to understand sin to understand God's holiness and to understand the way of access into his presence so I want to look at several things that we considered the first time that we looked at the Book of Leviticus this and then we'll cover a bit more in in depth chapter 16. so I want to look first at the author and title of the book secondly the historical context of the book and then thirdly the laws concerning sacrifice fourth the institution of the priesthood fifth the problem of uncleanness and its treatment and then finally the day of its own met now that's not going to be in detail again this is a review we have covered this material in detail but I do think it is helpful after a long break to sort of reorient our minds to this somewhat enigmatic book in the Bible I don't know that everybody makes much of the Book of Leviticus I don't know that I've ever heard a lot of sermons on The Book of Leviticus I haven't given many sermons on The Book of Leviticus I have preached from chapter 16 a couple of times after having gone through the study thus far I preached on the uh the the priesthood there in chapters 9 and 10 in our church but it's not a book that gets a lot of play in terms of the Christian church but it is very important in terms of atonement so first of all in terms of the author and title of the book the author is obviously Moses we know that from the New Testament chapter 8 Matthew chapter 8 that leper that needed to be cleansed the Lord Jesus refers to Moses and what he writes in The Book of Leviticus as well the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8 the supposition is is that she should be stoned according to what the Book of Leviticus says according to Moses and as well what Deuteronomy says and then the title Leviticus and the English Bible it comes from the Septuagint via the Vulgate and highlights the subject matter pertaining to the Levites but several of the Old Testament books are titled in the Hebrew Canon according to the first words of that book for instance Genesis is in the beginning Exodus is and these are the names numbers is in the wilderness and Deuteronomy the these are the words because that's how those books start off and so with reference to our title Leviticus it means pertaining to the Levites now in terms of the historical context as I said it's connected to Exodus but it's also connected to Genesis one of the things that we saw way back when we went through the Book of Genesis is that when God made Adam and he puts him in the garden the primary occupation of Adam is not agrarian his primary orientation is not that of a farmer his primary orientation is that of a priest he was to function in such a way as to extend that Garden Temple to Encompass the entirety of the earth he was charged with multiplying and filling that Garden Temple as it multiplied throughout the Earth with image bearers to the true and living God so what you find in the Garden of Eden is a dwelling place it's a tabernacle or a temple God comes to meet with Adam and Eve in that particular Garden Sanctuary now we spent a lot of time trying to show that when we went through those first chapters if you're interested in that maybe it's on Sermon Audio I don't know it was a long time ago but when it comes to Genesis and Leviticus the same emphasis is is at the Forefront God's dwelling with his people just as he does in Eden so he orchestrates through Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy so with reference to the historical context in terms of the Book of Genesis you have this emphasis on the creation of the world the creation of man and then God's dwelling with man and Andrew Bonar he writes several hymns in our hymn book he has a commentary on Leviticus and he links Leviticus with Genesis in this manner he says the Tabernacle that's the temporary Dwelling Place of God prior to their tenure in the land when they built the temple he says the Tabernacle was that tent whose two apartments separated by the veil formed the holy place and the most holy this Tabernacle was God's dwelling place on Earth where he met with men the token of his returning two man after the fall it was here that the voice of the Lord God was often heard as in Eden in the cool of the day so this isn't just G.K Beale in his book The Temple and the church's Mission the this goes back many throughout the history of the church have seen this emphasis on God's dwelling with his people it starts in Genesis and we see the absolute fruition and fulfillment in the Book of Revelation essentially you have that movement Paradise is lost according to Genesis 1 to 3 Paradise is restored according to Revelation 21-22 Paradise is lost due to the first Adam and his sin and Rebellion against God Paradise is restored due to the Victory and the innocence and the the Triumph of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ who functioned as the last Adam and fulfilled all the obligations placed upon him so Genesis relates to Leviticus but as well the book of Exodus relates to Leviticus in many ways even more intimately now in terms of the book of Exodus as I mentioned many times as we went through that book and as I've introduced this book you can think of the book of Exodus structured by three d's you have first Deliverance in chapters 1 to 19. God delivers his people out of bondage in Egypt then you have the second movement which is demand God at cyanide actually 1 to 18 19 to 24 God makes demands upon the people in terms of Law and then from 25 to 40 the emphasis is upon dwelling so as Dale Ralph Davis says the god of the bush in Genesis or Exodus 3 is the god of the hill or mountain in Exodus 19 he's the god of the tent in Exodus 25 to 40. so God's purpose is to dwell with the children of Israel and that's why they get this detailed instruction concerning the law of God now with reference to the the book of Exodus we know that the law we've got moral law that's the Ten Commandments that's transcontinental that means it always abides it never goes away it's binding upon all men at all times wherever they happen to live irrespective of the Covenant that they find themselves at but also in the book of Exodus you have judicial judicial law so in chapters 21 to 24 in the book of Exodus you uh 21-23 specifically you have the judicial laws of Moses those laws were the application of the Ten Commandments on how they were to conduct themselves when they inherited the land in other words it was to govern their life in the land our confession says that that judicial law expired with the Commonwealth of Israel but the general Equity abides today in other words for instance we know that the there was a particular emphasis on you know a flat roof you had to have a fence around it up on your roof so that somebody wouldn't inadvertently fall off and die well General equities suggest that if you have a dangerous situation perhaps a swimming pool you might put a fence around it so that people don't die I think that's the way that the confession speaks concerning General Blackwood day the judicial law is still useful the judicial law is still full of wisdom the judicial law is still beneficial but it's not governing Us in terms of our tenure in the land the inherited land that was given by God to the children of Israel and then the third aspect of law is ceremonial and you see that specifically in chapters 25 to 40 you have instructions given on how to build the Tabernacle and then you have instructions given on how to engage in priesthood so the ceremonial law typically refers to worship it typically not not always we see ceremonial law and Leviticus that functions to separate the children of Israel from the Heathen around them but that's a sort of a broad statement so that the ceremonial law governs Israel's life of worship as they come to God through Tabernacle and Temple and then when we come to the end of the book of Exodus you can turn there specifically Exodus chapter 40. so in Exodus chapters 25 to let me just make sure I get it right here so 25 to 31 you've got these detailed instructions on how to build the Tabernacle you have the calf incident in chapter 32 you have Covenant renewal and Restoration in chapters 32 uh to 34 and then from 35 to 40 you have the construction so they take the detailed instructions and then they construct the Tabernacle so they build it and it's there and it's standing and that brings us to the end of the book of Exodus in chapter 40 at verse 34 it says then the cloud covered the Tabernacle of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle that's the design that's the desire that's the purpose fact hold your put your finger there and go back to chapter 25 for just a moment chapter 25 as Moses gets into the instructions concerning the dwelling place or the sanctuary or the Tabernacle notice this purpose statement in verse 8 and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them so they're delivered they are they receive the grace of God they receive them the command of God on how then they ought to live and then they get this emphasis on dwelling in the presence of God that's repeated again in chapter 29 at verse 45. so God comes down in this Glory Cloud to dwell in the Tabernacle now we know God does not move locally there's no spatial movement the Bible speaks in the manner of men God fills everything God is omnipresent God is immense but the Bible speaks of God's dwelling in the Tabernacle or temple in a special way the Tabernacle and the temple do not contain God but it is the visible representation that God is present among his people and that's what we find here in verse 34. so then the cloud covered the Tabernacle of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle now this is where the book ends on a note of tension and Moses was not able to enter the Tabernacle of meeting because the cloud rested above it and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle so they've taken all this time they've spent all this money they've given all their stuff and they have constructed the Tabernacle according to the plan that God had given to Moses in other words they did everything right and we see that approbation by God in the fact that he now dwells in their midst he's dwelling in their midst but it has not yet become a meeting place the people of Israel are not able to enter in due to the glory of God the the Majesty of God and their own sinfulness that's what we're supposed to see there in verse 35 Moses was not able to enter the Tabernacle Moses functioned as the mediator between God and Israel Moses functioned as sort of the main man he was the leader he was the holiest of them in Israel well if he can't go in will then who can go at that's how the book ends well who can Ascend into the very Mountain of God most high well that's what the Book of Leviticus comes to resolve the tension that there is a holy God but man is sinful and cannot approach him is rectified here in the Book of Leviticus so you've got the completion of the dwelling place you've got the inability of access Into The Dwelling Place Morales says if Moses is unable to enter the Tabernacle then nobody is able and yet it is with this dire reality that Exodus closes Yahweh God has taken up his dwelling on Earth but no human being no Israelite not even Moses the mediator is able to approach this Abode so Leviticus is the answer the solution to a particular problem and so if we ask the question who can dwell in the presence of God Almighty Leviticus provides the answer there so the way into the meeting place is through the sack official system which you see in chapters one to seven and through a priesthood which you see in chapters eight to ten again Morales and Morales has a fantastic book I've recommended it several times who shall Ascend the mountain of the lord it's a Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus I highly commend it and recommend it it's excellent he says Leviticus not only narrates not only who may enter but how that entrance into the divine presence is made possible how God's dwelling may become the place of appointed meeting between God and His People The Book of Exodus ends therefore with the climactic infilling of the Tabernacle so that it has become in accord what the promises given in Exodus 25 8 and 29 45 a dwelling a dwelling without question what the book ends what books ending does question however is how this Tabernacle will come to function as a tent of meeting in this matter manner of the Tabernacle as Divine dwelling is the height of Exodus while the Tabernacle is meeting place with Israel presents the height of Leviticus so we further Advance the theme of God's dwelling with his people so he's there but now they come based on sacrifice and priesthood so that's the emphasis now in terms of the historical setting basically they arrive at Sinai in chapter 19 of exodus in verse 1. Dempster and another helpful book concerning the the Old Testament as a whole he says Israel stays at Sinai for 11 months in real time and 57 chapters in narrative time this is important given the fact that 68 chapters precede Sinai in 59 chapters follow it Sinai is Central to the Torah don't think anybody would debate that that is a heavy emphasis that you find in the pentateuch in the first five books of Moses so you've got this arrival you've have got the Commandments given and then you've got the Book of Leviticus and Sinai they're here for about a month when you compare this with numbers and when they start their move in terms of the Wilderness wanderings they are here for about a month and then after Leviticus you have the book of number numbers which records their Journey which records their wanderings which records their judgment Rick Horst preach from John 3 he he made reference to that scene there in numbers 21 and how the Wilderness generation had been judged for their sin and Rebellion against God so numbers deals with the maintenance of worship in the wilderness the book of Deuteronomy then finds the people of God on the edge of the the promises of God so in the plant they're in the plains of Moab uh basically Deuteronomy is just a series of exhortations by Moses to prepare that generation for the conquest to enter into the land and to take the land and ultimately it's Joshua who leads them in that endeavor so that's the historical context of the book that's what's happening sort of around the book now in terms of the book itself I've already mentioned with reference to pre uh sacrifice and priesthood so the laws concerning sacrifice you find in chapter one beginning in verse 1 to chapter 7 and verse 38. and I think it's interesting in 1-1 in the Book of Leviticus now the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tabernacle of meeting saying speak to the children of Israel and say to them when any one of you brings an offering to the Lord you shall bring your offering of the livestock of the herd and of the flock now as we move through this section dealing with sacrifice as we move through the Section dealing with priesthood we ought to conclude one very simple and fundamental thing it's God who gives the the the the way of access it's God who gives the means of access it's not man in his Ingenuity it's not man and his wisdom it's not man and his Collective ability saying well you know how as we how are we as sinful men going to attain to the to the holy uh presence of a holy God no it's divine in other words if man is going to come into the presence of God it's facilitated by God it's not facilitated by man it's facilitated by God so you ought to appreciate Divine initiative in the old Covenant and certainly in the New Covenant if Sinners are to be saved if Sinners are to be cleansed from their sins if Sinners are to receive a righteousness that avails with God it's not going to be because of the sinner it's not going to be because of his free will it's not going to be because of his abilities it's not going to be because of his good works or his law keeping it's going to be divine in terms of its Arrangement and in terms of the methodology so it's God who commands Moses with reference to these elements in terms of worship as well another thing that we have seen as we move through these this material is that the children of Israel specifically Moses and then mediated to the children of Israel they received the command of God and they obeyed now they didn't obey perfectly the nadab and abayu incident in chapter 10 illustrates that very vividly but they obeyed they didn't argue with God they didn't say you know what God that's not going to work for us we're in this kind of wilderness situation that's just not the way we're going to roll no they just received what God had to say and they sought to abide by what he commanded this is in reformed theology called the regular principle of worship I think Deuteronomy 12 32 summarizes that principle very effectively Deuteronomy 12 32 whatever I command you be careful to observe it you shall not add to it nor take away from it and that is precisely what we have seen up to this point in The Book of Leviticus the instructions given in the book of Exodus the instructions implemented here in the Book of Leviticus they didn't distort they didn't twist they didn't modify they didn't pair off the rough edges they took the instruction from God they didn't add to it they didn't take away from it they simply obeyed it now in terms of the old Covenant ceremonial law dictated the type of worship that we see here incense sacrifice priesthood those sorts of things in the New Covenant it's different in terms of our approach to God we don't have incense we don't come through this sacrificial or levitical system but we're still governed by the same principle in other words we're supposed to do what God commands in the New Covenant in terms of worship we're not free to offer up the way nadab and abihu does uh Strange Fire we're supposed to obey God and respond to God in the manner that is consistent with his revealed will and word so with reference to the laws concerning sacrifice you have this broken down into two sections first you have instructions for the people in one one to six seven and basically the people the person not every Sabbath not every time but there are appointed times during the year that you would take an animal out of your herd you would take it to the Tabernacle you would cut its throat you would engage in that activity and then you would present it to the priest and it would then be the priest that would take it and lay it upon the Altar and lay it upon the fire so there was something very Visual and something very visceral and something very very keenly knowledgeable by the Israelite that when I sin it's going to cost this animal its life when I sin it's gonna a demand or evoke blood atonement when I sin it's going to be something that is somewhat grave in fact the Apostle in the book of Hebrew Bruce tells us in that sacrifice sacrificial system there was a reminder of sins every year so on the day of atonement for instance that Leviticus chapter 16 thing what are they being being reminded of yes the Holiness of God they're also reminded of their own sinfulness so there's always this longing in the faithful not everybody was faithful but in terms of The Godly in terms of the faithful in the in terms of those looking to the promised Messiah there was always that longing for a better age for a better day for the New Covenant and so they're being tutored they're being taught they're learning that Messiah is coming and he is going to bring a once for all sacrifice and basically bring to fulfillment all that this Tabernacle and Temple stood for so in terms of the people you had the burnt offering chapter one The Grain offering in chapter two the peace offering in chapter 3 sin offering in 4 1-513 and then the guilt offering in 514-6-7 so you've got an offering for unintentional sin and then you've got an offering for intentional sin under the laws concerning sacrifice you had instructions for the priests same sort of thing what does the priest do when the worshiper brings his animal again it runs through the burnt offering the grain offering the pre-screen offering sin trespass peace and then there's a summary statement in chapter 7 at verses 37 and 38 and I'll read that chapter 7 37-38 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 mounts 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 again we're far removed in terms of the actual cult or system or apparatus by which Israel engaged in this but we hopefully know enough theology to understand the significance of these things we cannot come to God empty-handed we can cannot deal with our sin without blood atonement I think the The Book of Leviticus in many ways is summarized very aptly in Hebrews 9 22 without the shedding of blood there is no remission can't read Leviticus and and miss that you can't read Leviticus and come away say well I wonder what the point is of of all that blood and all that sacrifice and those praise well it's so that sinful man can meet with a holy God and then the next section in uh the fourth fourth thing in terms of our outline is the institution of the priesthood that begins in chapter 8 at verse 1 and then goes to chapter 10 and verse 20. now remember in terms of the the nation of Israel they had prophets and they had priests and and they had Kings as well Jesus as we know in theology is our Prophet priest and King so all of these prophets and Priests and Kings sort of pointed forward to our lord Jesus ideally Moses or Adam Adam the first would have functioned as a prophet fit priest and King but he forfeit that when he took the fruit and he ate and he rebelled against God so we have prophets and Priests basically a priest goes to God on behalf of on behalf of the people that best simplest way to understand this priest goes to God on behalf of the people the prophet comes from God to speak to the people now there's obviously overlap there's obviously you know some some other duties involved and that sort of thing but that's the function of the priest he goes to God on behalf of the people in this case with reference to sacrifice as well with reference to intercession and if you think about this what are the two aspects of the priest they intercede on behalf of the people and they sacrifice on behalf on behalf of the people it's not accidental that we see our Lord Jesus Christ do the exact same thing in John 17 for instance we call that Jesus High Priestly prayer what's he doing there he's into interceding on behalf of his people what does he do in John 18 and 19 he sacrifices on behalf of his people he functions as a priest in accordance with this model that we find in The Book of Leviticus so so uh sacrifice and intercession so when you look at this section in chapters 8 to 10 you've got the ordination of Aaron and his sons chapter 8 and then you've got the first sacrifices made by Aaron in chapter nine in fact you can turn to chapter nine notice specifically at verse 15. the Tabernacle is built the instructions in terms of sacrifice is given the priesthood is ordained they're ready to go they're ready to turn the dwelling place of God into the meeting place with God so they Institute and Implement all that was commanded that so let's read beginning in 9 15 then he brought the people's offering and took the goat excuse me which was the sin offering for the people and killed it and killed it and offered it for sin like the first one and he brought the burnt offering and offered it notice this language according to the prescribed manner he didn't waver he didn't you know well you know I think this will work better according to the prescribed manner then he brought the grain offering took a handful of it and burned it on the altar besides the burnt sacrifice of the morning he also killed the bull and the ram as sacrifices of Peace offerings which were for which were for the people and Aaron's sons presented to him the blood which he sprinkled all around on the Altar and the fat from the bull in the ram the fatty tail that covers the entrails and or what covers the entrails and the kidneys and the fatty lobe attached to the liver and they put the fat on the breasts then he burned the fat on the altar but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved as a wave offering before the Lord as Moses had commanded then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people blessed them most likely what we read there in numbers six that aaronic blessing that benediction that good word pronounced upon the people so he blessed them and came down from offering the sin offerings and burnt offering and peace offerings now notice remember Exodus ends with that tension you've got the resolution the resolution comes through sacrifice and priesthood verse 23 and Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle of meeting and came out and blessed the people then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burned offering and the fat on the altar when all the people saw it they shouted and fell on their faces so this is divine approval God blesses this is affirmation this is reception God receives the sacrifice he receives the offering any and he approves of it and so when it says all the people saw it they shouted and fell on their faces that is what happens when men are confronted with the glory of the most high and this was a shout of Joy this was a shot of worship this was a shout of Praise so continuing on with this theme of priesthood we see priest Priestly the approval of the priesthood and then we see the disapproval of the priesthood that fire that comes down from the presence of the Lord if it's not in terms of approval it can prove to be fatal so notice how chapter 10 and verse 1 begins then nadab and abahu the sons of Aaron each took his sensor and put fire in it put incense on it and offered profane fire before the Lord which he had not commanded that now we are in Leviticus chapter 10. after Leviticus chapters 1 to 7 which details in great detail and with great methodical Precision how you're supposed to sacrifice you're not supposed to bring Strange Fire you're not supposed to mess with the script you're not supposed to wing it you're not supposed to be Innovative you're not supposed to express yourself you're simply supposed to be obedient and so nadab and abihu for whatever reason did which God had not commanded that now there are many or at least a few reasons why are people suppose what uh suppose what they did for instance if you look at uh Leviticus 10 8 then the Lord spoke to Aaron saying do not drink wine or intoxicating drink no uh you nor your sons with you when you go into the Tabernacle of meeting lest you die so some surmise that nadab and ABI who had you know been a little hammered and they took their sacrifice and they offered up Strange Fire and that's why God killed them I don't think that's necessarily the worst answer I don't think that's necessarily you know out of out of line but I think the emphasis is at 16. if you look at Leviticus 16 specifically verses 1 and 2. the day of atonement is connected to chapter 10. Leviticus 16 now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they offered profane fire before the Lord and died interesting we've got all these chapters that separate 10 and 16 but this is the connection between the day of atonement this is a recollection of God's Wrath and then notice in verse 2 and the Lord said to Moses tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the holy place inside the veil so some suggest it was because they were intoxicated others suggest that it was because they went inside the veil they weren't supposed to do that that's only the high priest and that's only one time a year so they violated they they transgressed the boundaries that was not permissible whatever it may be we see though intend to which he had not commanded that so they offer Up This Strange Fire and instead of God saying well you know you tried your best I'm happy with that I grade on the curve notice in verse two so fire came out from uh went out from the Lord they had seen this at the end of chapter nine fire came out from the presence of the Lord in chapter nine and it consumed their sacrifice in terms of approval but that same fire as I mentioned if it's not according to to obedience to God's law can be fatal so fire went out from the Lord and devoured them not the sacrifice and they died before the Lord and Moses said to Aaron this is what the Lord spoke saying by those who come near me I must be regarded as holy and before all the people I must be glorified so Aaron held his peace and when we considered that section we considered that they just dragged the bodies out and kept going they just kept going well what's the implication a couple of dead bodies shouldn't stop the worship of God get them out and continue on that's exactly the emphasis in other words worshiping God can be dangerous if you're going to uh you know be an innovator or be a Creator and so then there's various instructions given by God to Moses and then by God to Aaron go back to 10 8 then the Lord spoke to Aaron saying do not drink wine or intoxicating drink you ignore your sons with you when you go into the Tabernacle of meeting lest you die now notice it shall be a statute forever throughout your Generations that language is used a lot in the pentateuch and people say well are we still subject to this it says forever forever in the condition in the Covenant that that they're operative in the old Covenant is obsolete the old Covenant has been has been not rendered and effective but fulfilled by our lord Jesus and now we're under the New Covenant so to suppose that we're still under the the Mandate for Yom Kippur we're still under the Mandate for the sacrificial system that is to to misunderstand The Contours of God's covenant the old Covenant was fulfilled by Jesus he brought us the New Covenant so when it says forever think covenantally forever as long as this Covenant is in play you are bound by God to engage in this particular activity so back to the text it shall be a statute forever throughout your Generations now notice that you may distinguish between holy and Unholy and between unclean and clean now that statement in verse 10 basically announces the outline of the book it out announces the outline for the rest of the book in Acts chapter 1 in in verse 8 Jesus says you will be my Witnesses in Jerusalem and then Judea Samaria and then to the uttermost parts of the earth that's how the book flows we see the church first in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 we see the church then in Judea Samaria in Acts chapter 8 and then with the calling the the Apostle Paul we see the church and the the uttermost parts of the earth so that one statement in Acts 1 8 is sort of programmatic for the rest of the book of Acts well that's what's fun that's how this verse functions that you may distinguish between holy and and Unholy and between unclean and unclean so in the Book of Leviticus unclean and clean are in chapters 11 to 15 and then this holy and Unholy distinction is in chapter 17 to 27. so that's what you find specifically there in chapters 11 to 15 the unclean clean distinction and then the holy Unholy distinction in chapters 17-27 and the overarching concern with cleanliness and with Holiness is again access into the presence of God Almighty how do we cleanse the the the chapter 16 specifically the day of atonement one of the primary emphases is to cleanse the house of God to cleanse that place what that that does at least contract some defilement in terms of its conda contact with sin and sinners when you get to Leviticus 16 era the the high priest is is shedding blood for the cleansing of various things involved in the apparatus of worship that's because it's been contaminated so this cleanliness and Holiness emphasis is so that the people of God can be fixed as it were so they can come back into the presence of God so that brings us fifthly to the problem of uncleanness and its treatment in chapters 11 11 1 to 15 33 and there you have unclean foods for those of you who were not here we didn't deal with every jot and Tittle in fact we're only on or we're only like the seventh message in um up to Leviticus 16. so if you're thinking about coming back yeah we're not going to go through every detail in the Holiness code in 17-27. I just one I don't get a lot of it and two it's just too much I I don't know that we have that kind of time we may see Jesus before then so so more overview-ish and you're going to get overview-ish when we get to numbers at least portions of numbers Lee McKinnon said once you get past the numbers it you know gets it gets easier to preach so that first section in numbers where it's all numbers we're probably not going to sit there and go through each tribe and number and all that sort of thing so so when it comes to the the the the the the flow of the book it is to present the children of Israel clean before God holy before God so that they can access the presence of God so you've got unclean unclean Foods chapter 11. the uncleanness associated with childbirth in chapter 12. unclean skin diseases in chapter 13. that's always a great passage for public reading of scripture yellow sores and pus-filled scabs and what the priest has to do and all that sort of thing but by God's grace we we Soldier through Leviticus 13. and then the cleansing of skin diseases in chapter 14 and then unclean discharges another fave in the Christian church chapter 15 uh uh so uncleanness and its treatment as I said that brings us then to the to the the day of atonement in chapter 16 won't spend much time here but basically I have introduction in verses one to two again the connection is God's Wrath God is Holy you're not therefore there is a problem to overcome how do we overcome that well this particular day of atonement in the New Covenant how do we overcome that by God's grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ so the prohibition concerning the holy place the prohibition against entering the holy of holies at just any time the condemnation for those who violate the prohibition lest he die and then the manifestation of God's glory for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy sea in the presence of God as nadab and abbay who so wonderfully illustrate is not to be trifled with we don't just wander in we must go in a manner that is consistent with God's Will and word chapter 16 verses 3 to 5 you have the proper uh the priests preparation on the day of atonement and then you've got the general outline of the day of atonement in verses 6 to 10. basically the sin offering for Aaron in his house the casting of law thoughts for the Two Goats the one goat functions is a blood sacrifice the other goat functions as an illustration the high priest lays his hand upon that goat confesses the sins of Israel and then sends the goat out into the Wilderness it's a wonderful picture of expiation or the removal of guilt and then when it comes to the actual detailed instructions for the day of atonement you find that in verses 11 to 28 and you'll notice the blood writes in verses 11 to 19 specifically you've got the purification offering on behalf of Aaron and the priests in verses 11 to 14 and then the purification offering on behalf of the people in verses 15 to 19. so specifically you've got atonement for the people notice in verse 15 then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering which is for the for the people bring its blood inside the veil do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat so he shall make atonement for the holy place so there's a atonement for the people atonement for the holy Place verse 16 notice that he's to engage in this in a solitary fashion verse 17 he's it just the high priest goes behind that Veil Just the high priest that one day that one day of atonement goes into that holy of holies that's it any unauthorized uh persons will be will be killed will be executed and then notice the atonement for the altar look at verses 18 and 19. and he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar all around then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel Bonar again makes the observation strange that the altar should need to be purified strange that the altar should need to be purified and yet what spot had more connection with sin was not every sin confessed there was not every sin laid down there was not that the spot where wrath was ever falling here is a strange combination sin and the atonement for sin it may have been typical of the fact that the foulest sin and the fullest atonement were found at the cross I think that's a wonderful and excellent observation and then the scapegoat verses 20 to 22 and then the cleansing of the participants the high priest and the man who sent this goat out into the Wilderness and then the chapter the chapter section ends on the duty of the people on the day of atonement so now everybody's back up to speed we can start the Holiness code God willing next week with reference to the sanctity of blood there in chapter 17. so I will pray and then if anybody has any questions I'm not sure that I can answer them but we shall try our father we thank you for your word we thank you that you have provided a way of atonement we know that is through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ we see that that's what this Book of Leviticus preaches to us we see that it preaches the reality that you are holy but you have provided a means by which we may access your presence we ask that you would bless the preaching of the Gospel throughout this Earth we pray that many more would come to a saving knowledge of our savior and we pray in his Most Blessed