Leviticus 15:1-16:34
Each of us is unclean before God. Each of us needs Christ, who has given
Himself as "a sin offering" to "make atonement" for us (Leviticus
16:16). Christ is the perfect Saviour, who "bears all our iniquities"
(Leviticus 16:22). Concerning His great sacrifice for us, the Word of
God says, "On this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you;
from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord" (Leviticus
16:30).
Leviticus 17:1-18:30
Through the shed blood of Christ, we have peace with God and eternal
life (Leviticus 17:11; Romans 5:1-2,8-10). We have received new life in
Christ. Now, we are to leave the way of the behind us. We are to live e a
new life as those who belong to the Christ (Leviticus 18:1-5; Romans
6:12-14; Romans 12:1-2).
Leviticus 19:1-37
Again and again, we read the words, "I am the Lord your God", or, more
simply, "I am the Lord" (Leviticus
19:3-4,10,12,14,16,18,25,28,30-32,34,36-37). The whole point of this is
that our moral practice is grounded in our spiritual worship (Romans
12:1).
Leviticus 20:1-21:24
The Lord calls us to be holy - because He is holy (Leviticus 20:26). We
are to be like Him. He has set us apart as holy (Leviticus 21:8). We are
"dedicated with the anointing oil of our God" (Leviticus 21:12). We
may take this "anointing oil" as symbolic of the presence and power of
the Holy Spirit. We are to "eat the food of our God - what is holy and
what is very holy" (Leviticus 21:22). Here, our attention is directed
towards Christ, who is our spiritual food - "the Bread of Life" (John
6).
Leviticus 22:1-23:44
Our careful obedience to God's Word is not to be a purely legalistic
thing. We must never forget that God is the God of redemption. Our
holiness is grounded in Him: He is holy, and He sets us apart as holy
(Leviticus 22:31-33). Holy living involves both worship and service. We
are to worship God (Leviticus 23:1-4), but we must not forget the "poor
people" (Leviticus 23:22).
Leviticus 24:1-23
If our light is to be keep on burning continually, we need pure oil
(Leviticus 24:2). The emphasis here is on keeping close to God. It is
only through closeness to God that our light will be kept burning. In
Leviticus 24:15, we read, "Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin."
This is followed, in Leviticus 24:16, by some words of explanation of
what bearing his sin meant: "He who blasphemes the Name shall be put to
death." As we read these words, our thoughts move to Christ, the sinless
Saviour who bore the sins of many - "He died that we might be forgiven.
He died to make us good, that we might go at last to heaven, saved by
His precious blood." Through Him, we are brought close to God. Through
Him, we are darkness and into light.
Leviticus 25:1-55
This chapter is full of the Lord's instructions concerning the Jubilee
to be celebrated by Israel. Why was it so important for Israel to hear
and obey the Word of the Lord? - "The Israelites belong to Me as
servants. They are My servants. I brought them out of Egypt. I am the
Lord" (Leviticus 25:55). This is still the foundation of our call to
obedience. The Lord, who calls us to obedience, has first called us to
belong to Him through redemption. He has redeemed us. We belong to Him.
We will serve Him.
Leviticus 26:1-46
There is blessing for those who learn to obey the Lord (Leviticus
26:3-13). There is judgment for those who persist in sinning against the
Lord (Leviticus 26:14-33). The opportunity of blessing remains even for
those who are in despair and are wasting away because of sin (Leviticus
26:36,39) - God says, "I will remember My promise" (Leviticus 26:42).
Those who have sinned against the Lord "must accept their guilt." This
is the way of coming to know the blessing of the Lord who says, "I will
not reject them of look at them with disgust" (Leviticus 26:43).
Leviticus 27:1-34
The underlying theme of this final chapter is giving ourselves to the
Lord to belong to Him, to be dedicated to Him, to be set apart for Him,
to be holy. Such dedication to the Lord is to affect the whole of our
life. We learn this from the variety of details in this chapter. There
must be no turning back from following the Lord. Those who turn back do
so at great cost. They become spiritually dead through their
disobedience to the Lord. Let us keep up our dedication to the Lord.
