G3 Insider

I started reading through the Bible this year in chronological order and I’ve finally hit the book many dread, Leviticus. In all honesty it’s a tough book to get through because it’s a book of laws and rituals. But as I read this book two thoughts keep coming to my mind.

1. God cares about details- God cares about even the smallest of details in our worship of Him. If He didn’t the book wouldn’t be nearly as detailed and organized like it is. Every ceremony was important. How it was done, who did it, what it was done for, what type of animal was used, on what day it was done all of those details mattered to God. It reminds me that God cares about our worship, how we worship, why we worship. He also cares about the details of salvation. Just like there is only one way God would accept an offering for forgiveness there is today only one way to have an acceptable offering to give that has a pleasing aroma and that is through Jesus. Now, rather than sacrificing an animal for forgiveness, we receive Jesus and give ourselves as the offering to Him.

2. Cost is high- As I read through the Law it just continue to remind me that it is impossible for any human no matter how holy or spiritual to obey all of these laws. You would have to be perfect. Really that’s the point of the Law. The Law is there to convict us and help us realize that none of us are perfect and the only way to atone for our sins is through a perfect sacrifice. In the OT it was through an animal that was without defect and for us it’s through the perfect Lamb who was without sin. In the OT the animal only covered over our sin but in Jesus our sins are wiped away forever. Also I notice that sin cost something. It cost one of your best animals, it cost money that went to the temple or went towards paying restitution to those who you wronged. Sin could get expensive and it still cost us today.

So when you read look for parallels between the OT view of atonement and what Jesus did on the cross. Really that’s the key to the whole OT. Look for Jesus in all of it and you will be amazed at how God was working and weaving all through history.