Daily Scripture Reading Leviticus 1:1-17
One of the main activities we do as Christians is go to church. Most Christians will say they worship Jesus when they go to church. Most Christians also assume that their church services are pleasing to God. They assume that as long as they say they are doing church in the name of Jesus and to honor Him, then Jesus will accept anything we do. There is very little concern that Jesus ever rejects what we do in our so-called worship services.
Today’s passage teaches us that the Israelites had to follow very specific rules when they went to the tabernacle. Failure to do so meant their time in the tabernacle was not accepted by Yahweh. If Yahweh rejected Old Testament sacrifices if His rules were not followed, perhaps He also rejects our church services if His rules are not followed.
Over the last two months, we read through the book of Exodus which tells us about the Israelites escaping from their slavery in Egypt and going to Mount Sinai to receive the Law from Yahweh. The middle part of Exodus includes a description of the construction of the tabernacle. At the end of the book, the tabernacle was assembled by Moses and then Yahweh filled it with His glory.
Today, we start reading through the book of Leviticus. Leviticus opens by explaining the rules for using the tabernacle.
Lev. 1:1 ¶ Then Yahweh called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,
Lev. 1:2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man from among you brings an offering near to Yahweh, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock.
Look at the word “offering”. An offering was a gift. The first thing the author of Leviticus did was document the rules and regulations for giving gifts to Yahweh.
Lev. 1:3 If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall bring it near, a male without blemish; he shall bring it near to the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before Yahweh.
Notice the word “burnt”. Verse 3 begins a section that describes burnt offerings. The word burnt means the offering was burned up.
Look at the words “without blemish”. A burnt offering had to be perfect. It had to be the best you had to offer.
Ponder the phrase “that he may be accepted before Yahweh”. In order for the offering to be accepted, it had to be offered according to God’s rules.
Most Christians acknowledge that Christians should serve Jesus in some fashion. Going to church is one of the methods employed to demonstrate our devotion to God. There is a mentality within Christianity that it doesn’t matter much what we do in church, or who does it, because God is a God of love and grace; therefore, He will accept anything. There is very little fear that God won’t accept our so-called worship services.
However, we see in this verse that in order to be accepted, an offering had to be offered according to God’s rules. This should prompt us to ponder whether our time spent in church is actually being accepted by God. Do we do church according to God’s rules?
For example, the New Testament tells us women should be silent in church. Very few churches in the 21st century obey that command. We should consider the possibility that Jesus does not believe or accept the praise and adulation offered in any church service where women are not silent.
Lev. 1:4 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.
Take note of the words “lay his hand” and “accepted”. One of the requirements for having a burnt offering be accepted was to lay hands on the offering.
Lev. 1:5 Then he shall slaughter the young bull before Yahweh; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring near the blood and splash the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
Lev. 1:6 And he shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.
Lev. 1:7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.
Lev. 1:8 Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the suet over the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.
Lev. 1:9 Its entrails, however, and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh.
Look at the words “all of it”. This offering was called a burnt offering because the entirety of the offering was burned. None of the offering was eaten by either the priests or the person bringing the offering.
Lev. 1:10 ¶ ‘But if his offering is from the flock, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall bring near a male without blemish.
Once again we see the words “without blemish”. An offering had to be perfect. This aligns with the requirement that the method of bringing the offering had to be perfect.
Lev. 1:11 And he shall slaughter it on the side of the altar northward before Yahweh, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash its blood around on the altar.
Lev. 1:12 He shall then cut it into its pieces with its head and its suet, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.
Lev. 1:13 The entrails, however, and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall bring all of it near and offer it up in smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh.
Once again we see the words “all of it”, meaning the entirety of the offering was burned.
Lev. 1:14 ¶ ‘But if his offering to Yahweh is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring near his offering from the turtledoves or from young pigeons.
Lev. 1:15 And the priest shall bring it near to the altar and wring off its head and offer it up in smoke on the altar; and its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar.
Lev. 1:16 He shall also take away its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar eastward, to the place of the ashes.
Lev. 1:17 Then he shall tear it by its wings, but he shall not separate it. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is on the fire; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh.
Going to church is one of the main methods we employ in serving Jesus. There is a mentality within Christianity that it doesn’t matter much what we do in church, or who does it, because God is a God of love and grace; therefore, He will accept anything. There is very little fear that God doesn’t accept our so-called worship services.
We see in the opening verses of Leviticus that an offering had to be offered according to God’s rules in order for Yahweh to accept it. This should prompt us to ponder whether our time spent in church is actually being accepted by God if we do not diligently obey all of His rules regarding how to do church.
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you and please tell others about Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. In order to join, go to Bible Mountain dotcom, click on subscribe, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold nor given away. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”