Leviticus
The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting. He said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any of you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.’” Leviticus 1:1,2
How many of us have read any more of Leviticus than these first few verses above? Only God knows how many of His people, with good intentions, have vowed to read the whole Old Testament through, but have come to a dead halt in Leviticus.
Before the year Israel camped in the wilderness at Mt. Sinai
· God had never resided among His people in glory
· a central place of worship like the Tabernacle had never existed
· structured sacrificial offerings had never been instituted
· a formal priesthood had never been appointed
By the end of the book of Exodus, the first two had happened. The book of Leviticus would see the next two accomplished.
The book of Leviticus opens with five different kinds of offerings. The offerings fall into two broad categories – sacrifices for sin and a sacrifice of thanksgiving. This sacrifice of thanksgiving was called the Peace Offering.
While some offerings were obligatory, this one was not. Only the voluntary offerings are described as having ‘an aroma pleasing to the Lord.’
While worship is commanded through the Scripture, the worship that God considers a pleasing aroma is voluntary. It comes from the heart.
We are quick to dismiss the Old Testament offerings as having been fulfilled in Christ. ‘Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people …’ (Hebrews 9:27,28). It’s very true that Christ’s death on the cross fulfilled in reality all that the Old Testament sacrifices spoke of in shadow form.
But even the New Testament speaks of a sacrifice we need to continue to make. ‘Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of our lips that confess his name’ (Hebrews 13:15).
We are New Testament priests before God (1 Peter 2:9) with unfettered access into God’s presence (Hebrews 4:16).
As you stand before your God, in wonder and awe at His grace that made all this possible, offer Him your voluntary sacrifice of praise. Give Him the fruit of your lips, spoken words. Tell Him how wonderful He really is!
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