THROUGH THE BIBLE - Leviticu..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Leviticus chapter 7. This is the law of the guilt offering.

It is most holy. In the place where they kill the burnt offering, they shall kill the guilt offering, and its blood shall be thrown against the sides of the altar, and all its fat shall be offered the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long loaf of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering to the Lord. It is a guilt offering. Every male among the priests may eat of it.

It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. The guilt offering is just like the sin offering. There is one loaf for them. The priest who makes atonement with it shall have it, and the priest who offers any man's burnt offering shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering that he has offered.

And every grain offering baked in the oven and all that is prepared on a pan or a griddle shall belong to the priest who offers it, and every grain offering mixed with oil or dry shall be shared equally among all the sons of Aaron. And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the Lord. If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with thanksgiving sacrifice and leavened loaves mixed with oil, and leavened wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour well mixed with oil. With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving, he shall bring his offerings with loaves of leavened bread. And from it he shall offer one loaf from each offering as a gift to the Lord, shall belong to the priest who throws the blood of the peace offerings.

And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a free will offering, he shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice. And on the next day, what remains of it shall be eaten. But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt up with fire.

If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his inequity. Flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten, shall be burnt up with fire. All who are clean might eat flesh, but the person who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of the Lord's peace offering while an uncleanness is on him, that person shall be cut off from his people. And if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether human uncleanness or an unclean beast or an unclean detestable creature, and then eats some flesh from the sacrifice of the Lord's peace offering, that person shall be cut off from his people.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, saying, You shall eat not fat of ox or sheep or goat. The fat of an animal that dies of itself, and the fat of one that is torn by bees, may be put to any other use, but on no account shall you eat it. for every person who eats of the fat of an animal, of which a blood offering might be made to the Lord, shall be cut off from his people. Moreover, you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwelling places. Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever offers the sacrifice of his peace offering to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. His own hands shall bring the Lord's food offerings. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waived as a waive offering before the Lord. The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be for Aaron and his sons. And the right thigh you shall give to the priest as a contribution.

as a contribution from the sacrifice of your peace offerings. Whoever among the sons of Aaron offers the blood of peace offering and the fat shall have the right thigh for a portion. For the breast that is waived and the thigh that is contributed I have taken from the people of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel. This is the portion of Aaron and of his sons from the Lord's food offering. offerings from the day that they were presented to serve as priests of the Lord.

The Lord commanded these to be given them by the people of Israel from the day that he anointed them. It is a perpetual due throughout their generations. This is the law of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the ordination offering, and of the peace offering, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day that he commanded the people of Israel to bring their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai. Amen. This is the word of the Lord.

Now, brothers and sisters, as We are progressing through this book, the book of Leviticus. We realize, my beloved brothers and sisters, of the so many details to each one of the sacrifices and the different rituals conducted, well, in the tabernacle. The tabernacle was finished in Exodus, and now this is the place where all of these sacrifices are performed or conducted. But now, brothers and sisters, The amount of details will continue until the end of the book. This is the nature of this book of Leviticus.

Lots of details and precise information about the different rituals and about the different sacrifices. This is why we need to be diligent in our study of this book of Leviticus. If you want to be benefited from the books of Leviticus, you should not leave your study only to these very short explanations that we try to give by God's grace on Sundays. But rather, you should give of your time and of your personal diligence and of your heart to study this book and to grow in the understanding with the principles that you're given so that you can see all the applications of this book, especially, and of course, in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that is displayed and portrayed and in a beautiful way presented to us in the New Testament. Now, what we have mentioned so far in these initial chapters of Leviticus is basically, beloved of Christ, the first five sacrificial offerings or the first five different types of offerings.

In chapter 1, we mentioned the burnt offering. In chapter 2, we mentioned the grain offering. In chapter 3, we mentioned the peace offering. In chapter 4, we mentioned the sin offering, or we studied the sin offering. And then in chapter 5 and portion of chapter 6, we spoke about the guilt or the reparation offering, or the restitution offering, which was explained to us to us by our brother in the last couple of weeks.

Now, there's many interesting things that we have learned through this study of Leviticus. There's so many interesting things, and perhaps the most important interesting things that we have learned, and that I hope they are already in our mind, are things such as, for instance, the difference between intentional or high-handed sin and that from unintentional sin. Perhaps these are things that we were not quite aware of, the things that we did not know about the sacrificial system and the book of Leviticus before we started with this study. So these are things that we need to keep in our mind and in our hearts, the difference between intentional high-handed sin and that which is called unintentional sin, which we have tried to explain almost every week since we started with this book. Now also, remember that the book of Leviticus only works for those unintentional sins.

Perhaps these are very interesting things that we quite did not know before we started with this study of the book of Leviticus, that the Levitical system works for unintentional sins. And also, very interestingly, the fact that these sacrifices, sacrifices that sometimes come into our mind when we think about the Levitical system or the sacrificial system, that these sacrifices, these offerings, they are not all of them blood and slaughtered animals and pieces that are on the altar, but rather there are many, many offerings that are of grain and oil and dust. Actually, not all of these sacrifices, as we have said, not all of them atone for sin, but actually many of these sacrifices, my beloved of Christ, many, many of these sacrifices, are not for atoning for sin, but actually they are for worship. They are worship offerings or gratitude offerings, thanksgiving offerings, worship in general. These are very interesting points, crucial points that helped us to understand the structure of this book.

There's another important thing and very interesting thing that I think I tried to emphasize in the first time that I could share with you in Leviticus chapter 1. And that is, I tried to bring to your attention the active role of the worshiper in these ceremonies. It is not that only the priest was doing all the things, but actually we can see that there is a high level of involvement of the worshiper or the person that is bringing the offering that teaches us a lot about how God has instituted All of these are very interesting things about this book that perhaps not many of us knew before this study. And I hope that you have seen these things, not only that you have heard them from us, but actually that you have seen these things. That's why I say that this requires the diligent study of each one of them so that your eyes will be open as you are communing with the Lord individually and personally, not only in the covenantal way when you come to church or when you are connected to the people of the church, but that your eyes are open and enlightened when you are doing your own studies, that the Spirit of God might speak to you grace and light, and that your eyes might be open as you progress through your reading and through your studies of Scripture.

But now, there's some very important things that I think are going to help us. Perhaps an important principle that I think is going to help us to get into the contents of chapter 7, which is the chapter that we have in front of us. We have concluded, brothers and sisters, we have concluded through these six chapters many times that God is very serious with sin. This is perhaps something that we can see very easily in the text and in the narrative of Leviticus, that God is very serious when it comes to sin. But there's something very important that from these different sacrifices and from these different rituals that we should not lose from our mind.

And this is that more than God being serious with sin, which is true, God is very serious about His relationship with His people. And even though one is inside of the other, One, relationship is bigger than sin. Yes, God is very concerned about sin and dealing with sin. But beyond that, and in a bigger manner, if you want, God is very concerned with the relationship that he has with his people. That is why when you are going through the different sacrifices, you are going to find sacrifices that deal with sin, but also you're going to find many sacrifices that pertain or are related to the keeping and the preservation of the relationship of the covenant member, men or women, with the Lord.

This is very important, and this speaks of a very important aspect of the gospel of Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters. You see, the gospel of Jesus Christ is dealing with sin, but it is much more than dealing with sin. Justification, when the justification of the righteousness of Christ better is given to us by faith, we have been declared righteous. We have been made justified. But the gospel of Christ is much more than being justified.

Because when we enter into a covenantal relationship with God, We are adopted, we are purchased, we are bought. Yes, we are declared to be righteous, but we enter into a relationship that actually did not start with our justification when we had faith, but actually it started before the foundation of the world, when the Lord God chose us in Christ, in union with Him. This is a very important aspect. If we oversimplify one of these aspects, relationship or sin, we are going to end up with not sound doctrine. Sound doctrine is to have a balanced doctrine in which we take all that the scripture says and we apply it to our souls by the Spirit and we live it.

That is, that God, in this case, is, yes, very concerned with sin, and we can see all the specifications about sin, but He is primarily interested and He's concerned about His relationship with his people. So we have on one side, he's interested in dealing with sin, but he's also on the other side, interested in this relationship with the Lord that actually they might not be two sides, but actually there is just one single thing. Now, this is very important because the way that chapter seven is structured is going actually to present these two sides, or these two aspects of who we are in Christ, or who the person of the covenant is with God, in this case, the people of Israel. So, for instance, from verse 1 to verse 7, we have a continuation of something that has been already explained, which is the guilt offering. From verse 1 to verse 7, we're given information about, primarily from that section, about guilt offering.

And we are even told, for instance, if you pay attention in verse 7 of chapter 7, that this guilt offering is just like the sin offering. There is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with it shall have it. This is this side of the sacrificial system that dealt primarily with sin, atoning for sin. So that means that when a person through the priesthood as intermediating part or part in this whole thing was bringing a guilt offering or a sin offering because they have the same law, they are the same thing, not the same thing what they do, but they correspond to the same substance, sin.

That person was dealing with guilt. That person was in the context of atonement. There was the concept of the principle of substitution, the principle in some cases of restitution, and of course, the principle and the concept of forgiveness. That is, that these type of offerings were dealing with sin. These were dealing with unrighteousness.

But also, beloved of Christ, from verse 11 until almost the end of the chapter, we have more information about another type of offering which has been already explained. And that's why I'm not explaining these sacrifices here in chapter 7, because guilt offering has been already explained. And what we have from verse 11 to verse 36 has been already explained in the initial chapters of this book, which is the peace offering. Verse 11 says, And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the Lord." Now, this type of offering, the peace offering, was more than dealing with sin, was an act of worship as we explained it in the beginning of the book.

So we can see here in this transitional chapter, which, by the way, chapter 7 now is taking us more into the duties and into the role of the priest and the consecration of the priest, as we will see from chapter 8 through chapter 10 and 11. So here, this is a transitional chapter moving us into that. In this chapter, brothers and sisters, we can see these very two important aspects of who the covenant member is in light of the God of the covenant. dealing with sin when it comes to guilt offerings and sin offerings, but also a relationship that needs to be preserved and kept with God as we have it in the case, for instance, of the peace offering. We are told, for instance, about this peace offering in verse 12, that if he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer it with the thanksgiving sacrifice, eleven loaves mixed with oil, eleven wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour well mixed with oil.

That is, that this type of peace offering, which is an offering of sacrifice, of worship better, that is not necessarily dealing with sin, was something of, it could be of thanksgiving. We're told also, if you go down to verse 16, that also this peace offering, it was not only something that could be of thanksgiving. But if you go to verse 16, it says, But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a free will offering, that continues to show, brothers and sisters, that this sacrificial system, and in this case of this peace offering, there is a very important aspect of the relationship that is not necessarily speaking of atoning for sin. This is an aspect of gratitude, of reverence, of commitment, of dedication, as he says, or vows, or free will offering. And we have examples of this type of offerings throughout the Old Testament and also in the New Testament.

When you go through the Book of Acts, and as we're going to go through the Book of Acts, you will see that we have examples of these different types of offerings. But we need to remove from our mind that every time that we think about the Levitical system and the sacrificial system, the thing that comes into our mind is a slaughtered animal and blood that is atoning for sin. This was a very important aspect of it. But also, God was interested, beyond dealing with sin, in the keeping and the preservation of the relationship of Himself with the people of Israel. Now, why is this so important and why am I making so much emphasis on this?

Because, brothers and sisters, the law that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai that dealt with the sacrificial system was the means by which the people will not only deal with sin, but also it will be the means by which they will continue to preserve the relationship with Him. You see, there's these two aspects of the law of Moses that were given to the people through Moses. One is that if you break the law, you are to atone for it. That is namely when you commit a sin. But also the law will tell people what they were supposed to do.

This is very important thing. Think about this. Once the sacrificial system was instituted, Then, the Israelite had no other way to keep his relationship with God than by remaining under the law of God. There was no other way by which he would either atone for their sins and intentional sins, or would offer sacrifices or gratitude and worship to preserve and to keep the law, than by staying under the law. The law was the environment in which the Israelite could keep and maintain the relationship with the God of Israel.

The Israelite needed to be within the covenant people. It is not that the Israelite was going to say, I'm just going to leave and depart from Israel, and I'm just going to live on my own in a different region, and then I'm going to continue to be in a relationship with God. No, under the old covenant, under the the letter of the law, he was under the law to either atone for the sins that he committed and through the means that the sacrificial system gave him or her to atone for the sins, and also to do the things that will keep and preserve the relationship in gratitude, in worship, in thanksgiving, and these other types of sacrifice. The Israelite needed to be close to the priesthood The priesthood was necessary for the relationship of people. They needed to have the priests because the priests were the ones that were offering and intermediating the sacrifices, whatever the sacrifices were, either of atonement for sins or guilt offerings or sin offerings or these other worship offerings or sacrifices.

Then people needed to be within the context of the people of God and under the law that God had given them and under the priestly system that God had given them, namely Aaron and his son. The Israelite needed to fulfill the law through the priesthood to remain in his relationship with God. the requirements of the sacrificial system can only or could only be fulfilled or met through doing the things that were said from God to the people of Israel. So people were under under the law when it comes to the covenant people of Israel. Now, why is this important?

Because, brothers and sisters, in Chapter 6 and in Chapter 7, we're going to find a very important statement that is found in the Book of Leviticus. Only, I think, I haven't counted one by one in the different variations, but I don't think that is more than 10 or max 15 times. But in verses in chapter six and seven, this statement is when it starts for the first time. This statement that I'm going to point you now is very important. And this statement is found in our chapter in the first words of our chapter.

In verse one, it says, This is the law of the guilt offering. It says, this is the law, this is the Torah of the guilt offering. These are the commandments of God. These are the requirements of God when it comes to the guilt offering. This is what God has mandated when it comes to the guilt offering.

This expression, this is the law is going to be found between chapter six and seven many, many times. And this is in relation to the role of the priest in fulfilling the requirements of the sacrifices so that the person will be accepted by God. Go to chapter six in verse nine. That is the first time in which we have this very important expression. Now bear with me, because this is very important, brothers and sisters.

Go to chapter six in verse nine. And then here we have in verse nine, it says, Commend Aaron and his sons, the priests, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. This is the commandment. This is the requirement of God. This is what God requests of people so that they will be accepted when it comes to the burnt offering through the priesthood.

If you go to verse 14 in Chapter 6, we have exactly the same word related or connected to this other offering, the grain offering. In verse 14 it says, And this is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall offer it before the Lord in front of the altar. Very important. Go to verse 25 in chapter 6.

It says, Speak to Aaron and his sons, the priests, saying, This is the law of the sin offering. These are the Torah. These are the commandments. These are the desires, the dispositions of the heart of God, who says how things should be done for the people of Israel, as it should be done by the priest so that the person will be accepted. Remember, accepted either for atonement for sin or accepted either for a sacrifice or gratitude or worship, independently of the sacrifice.

But this is the law. That is, the law is above the sacrifices. And if the law is not fulfilled, then the person is not accepted through the sacrifice. And then, of course, we have the instance that we have just read in verse 1 in chapter 7. But if you continue through our chapter, you can see the amount of repetitions of those words in different forms, or sometimes even exactly as I have just read it.

In verse 11, for instance, that we have also read it, it says, And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the Lord. This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offering that one may offer to the Lord, the commandments of God. This is so important, brothers and sisters, that Moses concluded the whole section of sacrifices in verse 37 of this chapter, saying that all of these things that have been said so far are the law for all the sacrifices. So if you go to the last couple of verses of chapter 7, We have here this statement in 37, 737, it says, This is the law of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the ordination offering, and of the peace offering. What?

Which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day that he commanded the people of Israel to bring their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai. Now why is this glorious and why is this so important? Brothers and sisters, under the old covenant, the Israelites or the Hebrews found their acceptance before God through the sacrificial system that was under the law. It was the law of the sacrificial systems, and through that they found under that covenant their acceptance. That is, that the sacrificial system was the law of the Israelites in the day of their acceptance.

That is, the day that the Israelite was going to be accepted, the fulfillment of the requirements of the law was in the sacrificial system. That is, that the sacrificial system was the law fulfilled and kept in the day that the person was accepted. The sacrificial system was the requirement in the day when they could say, I have been accepted by God either by atoning for unintentional sins, or even by coming with gratitude, and worship, and thanksgiving, or vows of free will, they could say, I have met the requirements of the law of the burnt offering, the law of the grain offering, the law of the sin offering, the law of the guilt offering, the law of the ordination offering, or the peace offering. I have met the requirements of the law. But brothers and sisters, we know that because of the repetitive nature of these sacrifices, the acceptance was temporal.

The requirement being fulfilled was limited. The fulfillment of this requirement was powerless. You see, the fulfillment of the law or the acceptance of the person by the completeness of the sacrificial system and doing what God has said that needed to be done, it was not enough to transform the life of the person that was offering. It was grace given to that person in that particular moment in which God accepted the sacrifice when it was conducted according to the standards that He has set in the sacrificial system and in the priests. But the sacrifice in and of itself did not have the power, as the author of Hebrew says, to make perfect the worshiper.

Yet in the New Testament, Christ Jesus is the requirement that sinners need for the day of their acceptance. You see, Jesus Christ in the New Testament is the law of the sinner in the day of their acceptance, just as in the Old Testament. doing the sacrifice and the offering according to what it was written was the law of the sacrifice in the day of the acceptance of the worshiper, Jesus Christ, who is the righteousness of God, who is the Rema, the Logos, the Word of God, Jesus Christ is the law fulfilled when it comes to righteousness for the sinner in the day of his acceptance. So Jesus Christ, it is the law of all the sacrificial system that is completed and that is fulfilled perfectly and the person is fully and completely accepted before the Lord. Now, why is Christ the law of sinners in the day of their acceptance?

Because of what the author of Hebrews says in chapter 10 in his book. Because when Christ offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single sacrifice He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified with one single one single sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, he became the completeness of the fulfillment of the law on behalf of the worshiper. So then the words of Peter in 1 Peter are made true, that the Father chose us according to his foreknowledge before the foundation of the world unto sanctification of the spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ who has sprinkled us with his blood. once for all is sprinkled with the blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins.

Why? Because Jesus Christ is the law of the sinner in the day of their acceptance. You see, this is the day of visitation in which the divine court approaches the sinner in life, not before the great judgment, but in life. When the divine throne comes before him and he says the gospel is preaching to that particular person and the person rejects the proclamation of the gospel, then that person is found to continue in their sins and to be guilty. But when by grace through faith that person receives the gospel of Jesus Christ, then Jesus Christ becomes the law of that sinner in that particular day and that sinner is accepted.

That's why the Lord Jesus Christ extended His hand and touched the unclean, and touched the ceremonially unclean in the book of Matthew, because He was the law of the sacrifice that made that person accepted. seemingly breaking the law. The Lord Jesus Christ will come and stretch out his hand and to touch the lepers, to touch the sick, and to be with the sinner, seemingly breaking the ceremonial laws and making himself unclean. But because he was the law fulfilled, then he became the law to that sinner. And he was not only made clean, but also accepted.

This is the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ who has now, through the Spirit of God, given us the complete sealing unto glory so that there is no need for the sinner who has been found accepted in Jesus Christ to continually present and repeat. the many sacrifices that we have started, because the sacrifice of the Lord is powerful, not only to be judicially and legally and forensically accepted before the throne of grace, but also is powerful to transform us, to enter into a relationship, because the gospel is more than legal aspect. It is an eternal and glorious relationship that can be summarized in Christ. Amen.