Moses said to Aaron,
“Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering
and your burnt offering and make atonement
for yourself and the people;
sacrifice the offering that is for the people
and make atonement for them,
as the Lord has commanded.”
Leviticus 9:7
If the category is Books of the Bible, and the clue is Legalism, every student of the Scripture would answer: Leviticus. It is a book of rules and requirements.
The theme of Leviticus is holiness. Sin required sacrifice for atonement and cleansing, in order to be declared holy. And Leviticus provides all the details: definition of sin, circumstances of sin, sacrifice required, type of animal, method of sacrifice, etc.
The journey through Leviticus is a bloody, exhausting, and sometimes tedious one.
But for us to truly appreciate the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus in the New Testament, we must wade through the sacrificial requirements presented in the Old Testament.
At least five types of sacrifices are listed in Leviticus:
- Burnt Offering
- Grain Offering
- Fellowship Offering
- Sin Offering
- Guilt Offering
Sometimes more than one offering was required. The sin or guilt offering would always come first. Before the worshiper could be free to commit to God, the matter of sin had to be resolved. Sins of omission and commission, intentional and unintentional sin … all required a sacrifice. The requirements of the law must be met before righteousness was achieved.
For that same day, perhaps just for that moment, righteousness by sacrifice brought holiness. Freedom from guilt. Cleanliness before God. The burden of sin lifted momentarily, but it did not last. Sin the next day or week or month meant another sacrifice. And another. And another.
The law could not save God’s people. The repeated sacrifices could not keep them holy. All of it was intended to point to their need for a Savior — to stir their hearts with longing for the promised Messiah, who would rescue them forever from the bondage of sin.
How blessed we are to live this side of the Cross! What freedom to be defined not by what we have done, but by what our Savior has done for us. What JOY to know we are declared holy for this day and for every day.
As we approach the celebration of Easter, may we be sobered by the truth we find in Leviticus: something — Someone — had to die to make us holy. And may that reality prompt grateful praise to Jesus … our Passover Lamb, our once-for-all sacrifice, our hope for eternity.
Hallelujah!
It’s not too late to join us as we explore verses about SACRIFICE in this month’s Write The WORD study. CLICK HERE for the Downloads page, where you can find printable bookmarks and S.O.A.P. study pages for to guide you through the March Bible study.
