“GOD [Wall] seems so far away… if only I could see or hear him.”  Have you ever felt this way – struggling with loneliness, burdened by despair, riddled with sin, overwhelmed by problems?  Made in God’s image, we were created to have a close relationship with him; and when fellowship is broken, we are incomplete and need restoration.  Communion with the living God is the essence of worship.  It is vital, touching the very core of our lives.  Perhaps this is why a whole book of the Bible is dedicated to worship.  After Israel’s dramatic exit from Egypt, the nation was camped at the foot of Mount Sinai for two years to listen to God (Exodus 19 to Numbers 10).  It was a time of resting, teaching, building, and meeting with him face to face.  Redemption in Exodus is the foundation for cleansing, worship, and service in Leviticus.

The overwhelming message of Leviticus is the holiness of God – “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (19.2). But how can unholy people approach a holy God?  The answer – first sin must be dealt with.  Thus the opening chapters of Leviticus give detailed instructions for offering sacrifices, which were the active symbols of repentance and obedience.  Whether bulls, grain, goats, or sheep, the sacrificial offerings had to be perfect, with no defects or bruises – pictures of the ultimate sacrifice to come, Jesus, the Lamb of God.  Jesus has come and opened the way to God by giving up his life as the final sacrifice in our place.  True worship and oneness with God begin as we confess our sin and accept Christ as the only one who can redeem us from sin and help us approach God.

In Leviticus, sacrifices, priests, and the sacred Day of Atonement opened the way for the Israelites to come to God. God’s people were also to worship him with their lives.  Thus we read of purity laws (11-15) and rules for daily living concerning family responsibilities, sexual conduct, relationships, worldliness (18-20), and vows (27).  These instructions involve one’s holy walk with God, and the patterns of spiritual living still apply today.  Worship, therefore, has a horizontal aspect – that is, God is honoured by our lives as we relate to others.

The final emphasis in Leviticus is celebration. The book gives instructions for the feasts.  These were special, regular, and corporate occasions for remembering what God had done, giving thanks to him, and rededicating lives to his service (23).  Our Christian traditions and holidays are different, but they are necessary ingredients of worship.  We too need special days of worship and celebration with our brothers and sisters to remember God’s goodness in our lives.

As you read Leviticus, rededicate yourself to holiness, worshipping God in private confession, public service, and group celebration.

 

VITAL STATISTICS

PURPOSE: A handbook for the priests and Levites outlining their duties in worship, and a guidebook of holy living for the Hebrews

AUTHOR: Moses

DATE OF EVENTS: 1445-1444 B.C.

SETTING: At the foot of Mount Sinai. God is teaching the Israelites how to live as holy people.

KEY VERSE: “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (19.2).

KEY PEOPLE: Moses, Aaron, Nabad, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar

KEY PLACE: Mount Sinai

SPECIAL FEATURE: Holiness is mentioned more times (152) than in another other book in the Bible.

 

THE BLUEPRINT

Worshipping A Holy God (1.1-17.16) God provided specific directions for the kind of worship that would be pleasing to him.  These instructions teach us about the nature of God and can help us develop a right attitude towards worship.  Through the offerings we learn of the seriousness of sin and the importance of bringing our sins to God for forgiveness.

1. Instructions for the offerings
2. Instructions for the priests
3. Instructions for the people
4. Instructions for the altar

 

Living A Holy Life (18.1-27.34)   God gave clear standards for living a holy life to the Israelites.  They were to be separate and distinct from the pagan nation around them.  In the same way, all believers should be separated from sin and dedicated to God.  God still wants to remove sin from the lives of his people.

1. Standards for the people
2. Rules for priests
3. Seasons and festivals
4. Receiving God’s blessing

 

METATHEMES

Sacrifice/Offering

EXPLANATION: There are five kinds of offerings that fulfil two main purposes: one to show praise, thankfulness, and devotion; the other for atonement, the covering and removal of guilt and sin.  Animal offerings demonstrated that the person was giving his or her life to God by means of the life of the animal.

IMPORTANCE: The sacrifices (offerings) were for worship and forgiveness of sin.  Through them we learn about the cost of sin, for we see that we cannot forgive ourselves.  God’s system says that a life must be given for a life.  In the Old Testament, an animal’s life was given to save the life of a person.  But this was only a temporary measure until Jesus’ death paid the penalty of sin for all people for ever.

 

Worship

EXPLANATION: Seven feasts were designated religious and national holidays. They were often celebrated in family settings.  These events teach us much about worshipping God in both celebration and quiet dedication.

IMPORTANCE: God’s rules about worship set up an orderly, regular pattern of fellowship with him. They allowed times for celebration and thanksgiving as well as for reverence and rededication.  Our worship should demonstrate our deep devotion.

 

Health

EXPLANATION: Civil rights for handling food, disease, and sex were taught. In these physical principles, many spiritual principles were the surrounding nations.  God was preserving Israel from disease and community health problems.

IMPORTANCE: We are to be different morally and spiritually from the unbelievers around us. Principles for healthy living are as important today as in Moses’ time.  A healthy environment and a healthy body make our service to God more effective.

 

Holiness

EXPLANATION: Holy means “separated” or “devoted”. God removed his people from Egypt; now he was removing Egypt from the people.  He was showing them how to exchange Egyptian ways of living and thinking for his ways.

IMPORTANCE: We must devote every are of life to God. God desires absolute obedience in motives as well as practices. Though we do not observe all the worship practices of Israel, we are to have the same spirit of preparation and devotion.

 

Levites

EXPLANATION: The Levites and priests instructed the people in their worship. They were the ministers of their day.  They also regulated the moral, civil, and ceremonial laws and supervised the health, justice, and welfare of the nation.

IMPORTANCE: The Levites were servants who showed Israel the way to God. They provided the historical backdrop for Christ, who is our High Priest and yet our servant.  God’s true servants care for all the needs of their people.

GET UP… leave… take off – these words are good ones for those trapped or enslaved. Some resist their marching orders, however, preferring present surroundings to a new, unknown environment.  It’s not easy to trade the comfortable security of the known for the uncertain future.  But what if God [Wall] gives the order to move?  Will we follow his lead?  Exodus describes a series of God’s calls and responses of his people.

Four hundred years had passed since Joseph moved his family to Egypt. These descendants of Abraham had now grown to over two million strong.  To Egypt’s new Pharaoh, these Hebrews were foreigners, and their numbers were frightening.  Pharaoh decided to make them slaves so they wouldn’t upset his balance of power.  As it turned out, that was his biggest mistake, for God then came to the rescue of his people.

Through a series of strange events, a Hebrew boy named Moses became a prince in Pharaoh’s palace and then an outcast in a desert land. God visited Moses in the mysterious flames of a burning bush, and after some discussion, Moses agreed to return to Egypt to lead God’s people out of slavery.  Pharaoh was confronted, and, through a cycle of plagues and promises made and broken, Israel was torn from his grasp.

It was no easy task to mobilise this mass of humanity, but they marched out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and into the desert behind Moses and the pillars of cloud and fire. Despite continual evidence of God’s love and power, the people complained and began to yearn for their days in Egypt.  God provided for their physical and spiritual needs with food and a place to worship, but he also judged their disobedience and unbelief.  Then in the dramatic Sinai meeting with Moses, God gave his laws for right living.

God led Moses and the nation of Israel, and he wants to lead us as well. Is he preparing you, like Moses, for a specific task?  He will be with you; obey and follow.  Is he delivering you from an enemy or a temptation?  Trust him, and do what he says.  Have you heard his clear moral directions?  Read, study, and obey his word.  Is he calling you to true worship?  Discover God’s presence in your life, in your home, and in the body of assembled believers.  Exodus is the exciting story of God’s guidance.  Read with the determination to follow God wherever he leads.

 

VITAL STATISTICS

PURPOSE: To record the events of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and development as a nation

AUTHOR: Moses

DATE WRITTEN: 1450-1410 B.C., approximately the same as Genesis

WHERE WRITTEN: In the desert during Israel’s wanderings, somewhere in the Sinai peninsula

SETTING: Egypt. God’s people, once highly favoured in the land, are now slaves.  God is about to set them free.

KEY VERSES: “The LORD said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering…. So now, go.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people to Israelites out of Egypt’ “ (3.7, 10).

KEY PEOPLE: Moses, Miriam, Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s daughter, Jethro, Aaron, Joshua, Bezalel

KEY PLACES: Egypt, Goshen, Nile River, Midian, Red Sea, Sinai peninsula, Mount Sinai

SPECIAL FEATURES: Exodus relates more miracles than any other Old Testament book and is noted for containing the Ten Commandments

 

THE BLUEPRINT

Israel In Egypt (1.1-12.30) When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, God heard their cries and rescued them.  We can be confident that God still hears the cries of his people.  Just as he delivered the Israelites from their captors, he delivers us from sin, death, and evil.

1. Slavery in Egypt
2. God chooses Moses
3. God sends Moses to Pharaoh
4. Plague strike Egypt
5. The Passover

 

Israel In The Desert (12.31-18.27)   After crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites became quarrelsome and discontent.  Like the Israelites, we find it easy to complain and be dissatisfied.  Christians still have struggles, but we should never allow difficulties and unpleasant circumstances to turn us away from trusting God.

 

Israel At Sinai (19.1-40.38)  God revealed his law to the Israelites at Sinai.  Through the law, they learned more about what God is like and how he expected his people to live.  The law is still instructional for us, for it exposes our sin and shows us God’s standard for living.

1. Giving the law
2. Tabernacle instructions
3. Breaking the law
4. Tabernacle construction

 

MEGATHEMES

Slavery

EXPLANATION: The Israelites were slaves for 400 years.  Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, oppressed them cruelly.  They prayed to God for deliverance from this system.

IMPORTANCE: Like the Israelites, we need both human and divine leadership to escape from the slavery of sin. After their escape, the memory of slavery heled the Israelites learn to treat others generously.  We need to stand against those who oppress others.

 

Rescue/Redemption

EXPLANATION: God rescued Israel through the leader Moses and through mighty miracles. The Passover celebration was an annual reminder of their escape from slavery.

IMPORTANCE: God delivers us from the slavery of sin.  Jesus Christ celebrated the Passover with his disciples at the Last Supper and then went on to rescue us from sin by dying in our place.

 

Guidance

EXPLANATION: God guided Israel out of Egypt by using the plagues, Moses’ heroic courage, the miracle of the Red Sea, and the Ten Commandments. God is a trustworthy guide.

IMPORTANCE: Although God is all-powerful and can do miracles, he normally leads us by wise leadership and team effort.  His words give us the wisdom to make daily decisions and govern our lives.

 

Ten Commandments

EXPLANATION: God’s law system had three parts. The Ten Commandments were the first part, containing the absolutes of spiritual and moral life.  The civil law was the second part, giving the people rules to manage their lives.  The ceremonial law was the third part, showing them patterns for building the tabernacle and regular worship.

IMPORTANCE: God was teaching Israel the importance of choice and responsibility.  When they obey the conditions of the law, he blessed them; if they forgot or disobeyed, he punished them or allowed calamities to come.  Many great countries of the world base their laws on the moral system set up in the book of Exodus.  God’s moral law is valid today.

The Nation

EXPLANATION: God founded the nation of Israel to be the source of truth and salvation to all the world.  His relationship to his people was loving yet firm.  The Israelites had no army, schools, governors, mayors, or police when they left Egypt.  God had to instruct them in their constitutional law and daily practices.  He showed them how to worship and how to have national holidays.

IMPORTANCE: Israel’s newly formed nation had all the behavioural characteristics of Christians today.  We are often disorganised, sometimes rebellious, and sometimes victorious.  God’s Person and word are still our only guide.  If our churches reflect his leadership, they will be effective in serving him.