Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Leviticus chapter 6 as we continue our study through the Word of God. As we have seen, Leviticus is God’s guidebook for His people, showing them how to worship, how to serve, and how to obey a holy God. And it is all based upon sacrifice and obedience and that is no different for us today. We are to sacrifice our lives unto God as we live in obedience to His Word and it is out of that we can worship and serve Him! With that said, let’s begin reading in Leviticus chapter 6, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us as we study His Word!
VERSES 1-7
Here we see the Lord speak of our trespass against our fellow man. If you lie about something that was entrusted to you, or a pledge you have made, or a robbery, if you extorted something from another person, or if you find something that was lost and lie about it to keep it, or you swear falsely it is a sin. And did you notice that it is a sin against God. It is as David said in Psalm 51:4, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight — That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.” Yes, man is affected by our sin, by our actions, but it is a sin against God!
Now before you could make a sacrifice for the sin, you had to repay or make restitution for what you did and add 20% to it and then you could make your trespass offering. It is as Jesus said in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Thus, both the restitution and the sacrifice had to be made the same day because you could not get right with God until you first get right with your fellow man!
VERSES 8-13
Back in Leviticus chapter 1 we spoke of the burnt offering or the consecration offering and the idea for us is that our lives are to be dedicated to the Lord, fully, completely. Clarke made these comments regarding this as he wrote, “Does the perpetual fire burn on the altar of my heart? Art thou ever looking unto Jesus, and beholding, by faith, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world?” That is a great question that only you can answer!
VERSES 14-23
This is the grain offering that we saw back in Leviticus chapter 2 and it speaks of our service to the Lord being consecrated or devoted totally to Him. The priest would completely burn their offering before the Lord, ½ in the morning and ½ in the evening.
VERSES 24-30
Back in Leviticus chapter 4 we spoke of this sin offering and how the priests would get half of this offering and the other half would be given to the Lord, burned before Him. But, it seems that any sin offering made for the nation could not be eaten, it was totally burned before the Lord!
VERSES 1-10
We dealt with the trespass offering back in Leviticus chapter 5 and once again half would be burned before the Lord and the priests could eat half. And this food was to be distributed equally to the priests; no one was to get more or less!
VERSES 11-21
Here is the peace offering or fellowship offering that we spoke of back in Leviticus chapter 3. The thanksgiving offering was the most common and it was to be eaten the same day it was offered before the Lord. And as Christians, we should have hearts that are filled with thanksgiving, every day! There was also the vow or voluntary offering to the Lord. And they could be eaten up to 2 days after the offering was made but not on the third day!
Think about all these rules and regulations God has given them so they may approach Him. Today people think they can approach God any way they want and they are dead wrong. Spiritually dead that is and separated from God. You see, the only way we can approach God the Father is not by all these sacrifices, but by THE sacrifice that was made by Jesus Christ! Paul put it like this in I Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
VERSES 22-27
Here we see once again the prohibition against eating fat or drinking blood. Now, the Jehovah Witnesses take this to an unbiblical conclusion. They say that they can’t receive blood transfusions because of what the Bible says about drinking blood. First of all God didn’t want them drinking blood because it was a pagan practice and they did this to receive the life energy that was in the person or animal they sacrificed. Yes, the life is in the blood for it carries oxygen and nutrients to the body and waste products out of the body. But for us, the life is in the shed blood of Jesus Christ for our sins. And lastly, I’ve worked in hospitals for over 25 years and a majority of that time was in the intensive care unit and I have never seen anyone who was getting a blood transfusion drinking it down! It goes into their IV, into their blood stream and God is not forbidding that!
VERSES 28-36
Here we see the heave offering, in which the right thigh of the animal was waved up and down before the Lord. The wave offering or the breast of the animal was waved before the Lord side to side.
VERSES 37-38
The sacrificial system was part of the covenant obligation for the children of Israel until the Messiah came and fulfilled the requirements of the Law, its penalty that was due us was paid!
Before we close out this chapter, listen to how Jon Courson summed this up for us. He wrote:
At the end of this review of the five sacrifices; notice the portrayal of the life of Christ from His baptism to His Crucifixion . . .
In the burnt offering, we see Christ’s baptism, for both speak of total dedication. In the meal offering, we see Jesus being tempted, for both show an absence of leaven, an absence of sin. In the peace offering, we see Jesus embarking on public ministry, for both proclaim, speak of the good tidings of the gospel. At the Cross, we see the sin and trespass offerings, as Jesus died not only for our sin nature, but also for our specific acts of sin.
I find it interesting, however, that in the life of the believer, the sacrifices are illustrated in reverse order . . .
A person gets saved when he realizes he has trespassed. Then he discovers he sins because he’s a sinner, because he has a sin nature. He confesses his sin, asks the Lord into his life, and communes with God through the peace offering – at the Lord’s Table. Then he says, “Refine me, Lord. Take out the lumps and the leaven in my life.” And finally, he says, “Don’t only sift me, but consume me, Lord. I’m laying my life down as burnt offering. I want to be consumed by You.”
Where are you in this process? The further you choose to go, the happier you’ll be. I can guarantee this because Jesus did when He told us it’s when we lost our life that we truly find it (Matthew 10:39).
- Jon Courson, Application Commentary, Vol. 1, pp. 381-382
VERSES 1-3
Back in Exodus chapter 29 the Lord instructed Moses on how Aaron and his sons were to be consecrated or set apart for God. This was the beginning of their ministry, the priesthood and all the people were to witness what God has done, is doing and will do in their lives. And in Exodus 29:1 we see the reason for this. We are told, “And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests . . .” They were to be used for God’s purpose, His will! Folks, it should be no different for us. The moment we are saved our lives should be given to God to be used by Him for His glory according to His purpose and will! Paul put it like this in I Corinthians 6:20, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.” The Living Bible puts this verse like this, “For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it.” That is the perspective we are to have as we serve the Lord, as we live out our life!
VERSES 4-5
Notice, it was not Moses’ idea to do this, but it was the Lord’s, and the people needed to hear that and understand that. As we speak forth the Words of God, may it not be our ideas or issues, but may it be the Lord’s, this is what He desires because He has said it! I have seen people fight and argue over personal convictions, making them into a law for everyone to practice, when you won’t find it in the Scriptures. And maybe the reason they are fighting against it is because they want to do it and since they can’t, they don’t want anyone else to do it. I remember a story that happened to J. Vernon McGee years ago. A woman came up to him complaining about all the women that were wearing makeup and how wrong that was. And J. Vernon looked at her and said with his southern drawl, “Madam, if the barn needs to be painted then paint it!” Be careful that you don’t make your conviction that God has given you into a law that everyone must keep!
VERSE 6
What a humbling experience this must have been but this cleansing was needed before they could serve. Now, this was not a daily ritual, once they were washed, and many Jewish interpreters feel this was a total body immersion as was required by the high priest on the Day of Atonement,(Leviticus 16:4), but once they were washed they just needed to wash their hands and feet as they served the Lord!
I find that interesting because that is what the Lord has done in our lives. First, we were washed in the blood of Christ, a total cleansing by repenting of our sin and asking Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our life. Then, once we have been washed by Jesus we need that daily cleansing of God’s Word opened up to us by God’s Spirit!
VERSES 7-9
After they were clean, then they were clothed but not with their own clothes, but the ones that God had given to them. Folks, after we are saved we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed into our lives by faith. We don’t put on our own garments, which are like filthy rags and if you do, you will not be allowed into the kingdom of God! Spurgeon put it like this, “Note that these garments were provided for them. They were at no expense in buying them, nor labor in weaving them, nor skill in making them; they had simply to put them on. And you, dear child of God, are to put on the garments which Jesus Christ has provided for you, at his own cost, and freely bestows upon you out of boundless love.”
VERSES 10-13
The oil sprinkled on non-living things set them apart to be used in the service of the Lord. Oil upon Aaron also set him apart to be used by God and it is also the symbol of the Holy Spirit coming upon a person to empower them for service. And folks, this was not just a drop of oil on Aaron’s head. In Psalm 133:2 we are told, “It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.”
We also have this anointing from God as John tells us in I John 2:20-21, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.”
Now there are some on television that speak of “the anointing” like they alone have it or it is only for special people to receive it. Maybe you heard them. The problem in what they are saying is they are wrong. John is telling us that all believers have this anointing of God, but what is it? It is speaking of the Holy Spirit who will show us the deceptions, expose them to us as false so we don’t fall prey to them. The Holy Spirit will expose these heresies with the truth of God’s Word.
And when John speaks of knowing these things he doesn’t use the Greek word GINOSKO or to know by experience but EIDO, which means knowledge by intuition. You see, we know some things by intuition, the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts about them and they of course are in line with what God’s Word has to say.
Paul, in I Corinthians 2:10-16 tells us, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” Thus, we should not be deceived by the winds of false doctrine that blow through the church!
VERSES 14-17
Here we see the sin offering for Aaron and his sons. And, as we saw in our study in Exodus, the Hebrew word for “altar” means “killing place.” It was a place of death but it was made holy by the blood that was applied to it. In the New Testament the cross was also a killing place but it too was transferred to a place that would bring forth new life by the shed blood of Jesus, the blood applied!
VERSES 18-21
This is so important for us to understand. Before a person can truly commit his life to the Lord, first they must be clean, they must be anointed, atonement must be made. In other words, apart from being saved, you can’t serve the Lord! Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” And for Christians, we must abide in Him; otherwise our service is just a lot of empty words!
VERSES 22-24
Now the blood was applied to the right ear, the right thumb and the right big toe because the right side was the place of power, of skill and thus, God wanted their best dedicated to Him. The right ear was anointed so that they would hear God’s voice. The right thumb was anointed so that they would do the Lord’s work. And the right big toe was anointed so that they would walk down the path that God had set for them. Folks, that is what God desires of us!
VERSES 25-29
This second ram that was used for consecration, its blood applied to the ear, thumb and big toe of the priest was also used as a wave offering before the Lord. First, the best parts of this offering were put together with the bread, cakes and wafer and waved before the Lord and then burnt on the altar as an act of complete devotion to the Lord!
VERSE 30
Why the blood and the oil sprinkled on Aaron and his sons? Because we need in our lives the sacrifice of Jesus, the blood; and His Spirit in our lives so we can walk, the oil!
VERSES 31-32
Now the priests were to eat part of this second ram before the Lord. It is as Spurgeon said, “Let not this distinction be forgotten; the eating of the sacrifice is not intended to give life, for no dead man can eat, but to sustain the life which is there already. A believing look at Christ makes you live, but spiritual life must be fed and sustained.” Maybe that is the reason so many Christians struggle today, they are not feeding the spirit and thus, they are feeding the flesh! Peter put it like this and he is pretty blunt about it, he does not pull any punches. He aid in II Peter 3:17-18, “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” May we grow in Him! And God also wants our fellowship to be fresh, not stale, so whatever remained of the sacrifice that wasn’t eaten, was to be burned with fire!
VERSES 33-36
For seven days Aaron and his sons spent in the tabernacle before the Lord. Why did the Lord instruct them to do this? Because unless you spend time alone with the Lord you will not be able to minister for Him because you can’t give what you don’t have! May we have the heart of the Psalmist who said, “How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Psalm 84:1-2.
The other point here is that if we are going to serve the Lord we must be obedient to Him, because if you can’t be obedient in the small things, how is He going to trust to you the bigger things?
VERSE 1
Eight is the number of new beginnings, and thus, the priestly ministry began on the eighth day! Folks, our ministry truly is only made possible because of our Lord rising on the eighth day, on Sunday morning for because of that we have a new beginning and the moment we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, we begin to serve as these priests did!
VERSES 2-6
I think the point here is simple. Even after all the sacrifices that were made, they still had to atone for their sins by offering the sin offering because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away your sin! Once he offered the sacrifices for himself, he would then offer them for the people, as we will see as we read on. And the result of that obedience to the Lord is that “the gory of the LORD will appear to you.” As we are obedient to the Lord there is that blessing in our lives also as we draw closer to Him!
VERSE 7
Notice, the ministry of the priesthood was not for their own benefit, even though they were blessed. But it was for the people, to bring them before God and to bring God before them. They were to be a blessing to the people as they served them and so should we bring blessings to the body of Christ and those that don’t know the Lord!
VERSES 8-14
As the priestly ministry began they were humble as they identified themselves with the common people, they too were sinners and only by the grace of God were they allowed to serve in this capacity. You see, they were basically saying, “I too am a sinner in need of atonement just like you!” But, by the time we get to Jesus’ day, the religious leaders looked down upon the people. The Pharisees, as they walked down the street, would pull in their robe so it would not touch a common person, a sinner because they were holy or so they thought! Tragically there are some today who feel this way and it is wrong, we are all sinners saved by grace!
VERSES 15-21
God is very detailed in how we are to approach Him, how we are to worship Him, how we are to live because He loves us and wants what is best for us. You see, we can’t approach a holy God any way we want, as I have said. Jesus tells us in John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” You must be saved first of all, worshipping Him in spirit and we must worship Him in truth, according to God’s Word and not as we want!
VERSES 22-24
As Aaron blessed the people, as the sacrifice for sin was made, they saw God accept their sacrifice by His fire from heaven coming down and consuming the sacrifice. Now, maybe this is the reason the fire of the altar was not to go out, because it was lit by God and thus, what God has started, it should not be quenched. The same is true in our own lives, what God has started, that fire He has placed there, don’t let it go out but tend to it so you can burn bright and strong as a witness of Jesus!
Folks when you have an encounter with God, a true encounter with God it should cause you to reverence Him even more, worship Him and not act goofy as we see so often today! As the fire of God fell, they shouted for joy as God accepted their sacrifice and then they fell before Him in reverence to Him, who He is, Almighty God!
As I close this evening let me say this. We too are priests of God but we are not priests of God placed into the ministry by a ceremony, but by the promise of God that He has made to us. Paul tells us in Hebrews 7:20-22, “And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: ‘The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”’), by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.” You see, God has promised to us, with an oath you might say, to make us priests of God. In Revelation 1:5-6 we are told, “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Also, Peter tells us in I Peter 2:4-5, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Thus, we are priests of God, not by ceremony but by an oath, the promise of God. Thus, may we live accordingly. May we bring Jesus to people and bring the people to Jesus, serving the people as God has called us!