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LIVING WITH A HOLY GOD REQUIRES ACCEPTABLE WORSHIPLeviticus 6:8 - 7:38INTRODUCTION I grew up with three brothers. My dad had us four boys out hunting at a very young age. I’m told that he took me hunting when I was only 2. Three of us love to hunt. However, my brother Eric, sometime in high school decided that hunting was not his thing. Eric does not see the glory in hunting, nor is he grateful for the opportunity to go hunting. Is it wrong that he doesn’t like to hunt? No it is not wrong. It has been annoying to my brothers and I at times but it is not wrong. Among human beings there is an almost infinite variety of preferences, loves and hates, likes and dislikes that are neither moral nor immoral but merely a feature of how different we are from one another. Is there anyone or anything that every human being is morally obligated to love, to prefer? The vast majority of people in our culture would give a resounding no to that question. In fact, to suggest that there is an object or person that every human being is morally obligated to love is viewed as the highest form of bigotry and intolerance. A nyone who claims to know what all humans ought to love is by definition arrogant and evil. It is important for you to know that all who claim that there cannot be one God to whom all humans owe allegiance are making this claim not on the basis of any reasonable argument but because of their unquestioned belief that there are no absolute truths. Ultimately they are making a circular argument that goes like this: there cannot be one God to whom all owe allengiance because there simply cannot be one God to whom all owe allegiance. As you probably know the Bible claims that there is indeed one God to whom all owe allegiance. The apostle Paul in Romans 1:18-22 says that this one, true God has made what can be known about him plain to all men. In v. 20 he says, “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse.” He says that every human being has blazing before their face every moment of every day incontrovertible evidence that the invisible, creator God who has infinite power and who exists in a fashion that is entirely different from this world of matter and energy does indeed exist. Then Paul tells us in v. 21 what every human being has done with this knowledge. He says, “For though they knew God they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him…” In other words, Paul says that every human being is morally obligated to glorify this creator God and give thanks to him but yet no human being does what we are morally obligated to do. Every human being glorifies portions of the creation. My brothers and I glorify hunting, that is, we enjoy it and talk about its greatness and try to recruit others to enjoy it with us. We invest time and money in order to enjoy it. We are grateful for the benefits and joys we experience while hunting. What Paul argues is this: since we all enjoy some portion of creation, which all know is finite and created, ought we not to enjoy and delight in and be impressed with the one who created it in far greater ways? Since we all know that we did nothing to give ourselves life, nor did we do anything to make this creation, ought we not to always be grateful to the one who made us and all things? It is so obviously morally wrong that you and I are not consumed with delight in and love for God and overflowing with gratitude towards him. The story of the Bible is the story of God restoring human beings to their original condition as worshippers, as people who glorify and give thanks to God always. It is the story of how God forgives humans for not worshipping him and of how he turns us into worshippers, into what we were created to be. This is the story of Leviticus. As originally delivered to Israel by God through Moses it was Israel ’s handbook on how to worship God. However, it is not only Israel ’s handbook but ultimately it is a description of how God wants all human beings to draw near to him for the purpose of delighting in him and finding him to be everything through Jesus Christ. While it originally directed one nation on how God wanted them to worship him, yet it also pointed them and us ahead to the ultimate fulfillment of all that it describes in Jesus. As Paul says in Galatians 3, this law of worship in Leviticus is our tutor to lead us to Christ and thus to the true worship of God. This morning we are going to discover how God wants us to do what he made us to do, glorify him and give thanks to him, that is, to worship him. MAIN POINT Acceptable worship of the true and living God requires that…I. We draw near to the one who is a consuming fire (6:8-13, 7:20-27) The first five chapters of Leviticus are a description of the five basic sacrifices that every Israelite is commanded by God to offer. Those chapters were addressed primarily to the people of Israel. We saw in those chapters how each of the sacrifices revealed something of the greatness of Jesus who is our Lamb of God who takes away our sins by his willing death. We discovered also, why we need Jesus and his sacrificial work in order to live with God and he with us. In Leviticus 6:8-7:38 the same five sacrifices are again described but this time the people to whom God is primarily speaking are the priests, Aaron and all of his descendants (6:8, etc.). The first thing that God tells the priests (vv. 8-13) is how they are to take care of the altar of burnt offering and perform the morning and evening burnt offerings. The main point that God drives home, repeating himself five times in these five verses is that the priests are to make sure the fire on the altar never goes out. The section begins and ends with this command, "The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously, it must not go out." There are two questions that we have to answer: What does this fire represent? Why must it never go out? The first question is fairly obvious, the fire is a physical symbol of the invisible God. God first showed up to Moses as a fire in a bush. He has manifested his presence to all Israel since leaving Egypt in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. When God revealed his presence on Mt. Sinai, among the physical, visible signs of his presence was fire. Finally, and most conclusively, in Leviticus 9:24 as Aaron finishes making the very first offerings upon the altar of burnt offering we are told that fire came out from the Holy of Holies and burned up the sacrifices on the altar. The same thing happened when Solomon built the temple and the first offerings were made on the altar of burnt offering in the temple (2 Chronicles 7:1). But why is this fire a fitting symbol of God's presence? What about God does it symbolize? There are three words used in these six verses that are used to describe God throughout the OT. First, the verb that is translated in v. 9, "must be kept burning" is only used five times outside of Leviticus and is used the same way in four of those five times. Listen to these two uses: Deuteronomy 32:22, "For a fire has been kindled by my wrath, one that burns to the realm of death below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains." Jeremiah 17:4, "Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever." In the NT, the Greek word that translates this Hebrew word is used twice in the book of Revelation to describe the lake of fire, which is the final destiny for Satan and every unbeliever as "the lake of burning sulfur." In other words it is used as a metaphor for God's anger toward and his eternal judgment against sin in hell. Second, two times, in verses 12 & 13 a word is used that is translated, "it (the fire) must not go out", or, more literally, "it must not be quenched." This verb is used outside of Leviticus at least 12 times in relation to God's anger against sin. Listen to these two verses: 2 Kings 22:17, "Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched." Isaiah 66:24, "And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh." Finally, in v. 10 the ashes that the priests have to remove from the altar every day are described with this phrase, "the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed…" That phrase is then used by Moses in Deuteronomy 4:24 when he warns Israel against idolatry. He says, "…do not make for yourselves an idol…for the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." This exact phrase is then picked up by the author to the Hebrews when he says, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire." The fire symbolizes God's just anger against human sin and his determination to pour out his anger forever on those who refuse to worship him as he requires. It is a symbol of his jealousy for the honor of his own name. Why must the fire never go out? The fire must never be quenched because God's holy jealousy for the honor of his own name will never be quenched. God is an eternally just God and his anger against human rebellion will never go out. That is why hell is eternal, conscious punishment. All the inhabitants of hell will forever provoke God's anger because he will never stop being a just and holy God and they will never stop hating and despising God and his laws. Therefore his anger will burn forever against the rebellious with none to quench it. Every single day the priests are confronted with this eternal fire. Every time an Israelite comes to the tabernacle with his offering, as he enters into the courtyard he is confronted first by this altar with the ever burning fire. Every day the people of Israel are confronted with the fact that this fire should consume them. The God whom they worshipped and whom we worship is a consuming fire, a God whose wrath eternally burns against sinners. You cannot worship God acceptably without remembering that. God is not some benign and bemused grandfather figure. He is not Santa Claus. He is not some impersonal, indifferent force. Rather he is a God who is intensely interested in us and our affections and our behavior. He is paying very close attention and sin provokes his anger. There is one other place in this section that points this out. Look over at 7:20-21. Anyone who eats any of the peace offerings while in a state of uncleanness "must be cut off from his people." This phrase occurs scores of times in Leviticus. There is a long and complicated debate about all that it means. However, what is clear is that this phrase reflects God's anger against those who break his laws. Bruce Wenham in his commentary says that this phrase is usually connected to sins that would be hidden from human sight, sins that only God would know about. Therefore, it is a warning to all that even though you may be able to hide your sin from men, you cannot hide it from God and he is determined to punish you. Wenham then quotes a Jewish lawyer who describes the effect this phrase would have upon those who came under its condemnation: “The threat of being cut off by the hand of God, in his own time, hovers over the offender constantly and inescapably; he is not unlike the patient who is told by his doctors that his disease is incurable and that he might die any day…. The wrath of the omnipotent and omniscient God being directed particularly at yourself of all people, and being certain to strike at you with unforeseeable force and intensity any day of the year and any minute of the hour, was a load too heavy … to bear” (H.H. Cohn, cited by Wenham, p. 242). There are most likely some here who react negatively to thinking of God in these terms. You might want to say to me that God is a loving God and you would be right. But we must view God in his fullness. He is not just a loving and forgiving God but he is also a just, holy and righteous God. And, his love can only be appreciated in light of the fact that he is a consuming fire. There is a movie that Mel Gibson starred in that I have never seen because I can't handle the level of violence that is in it. However, many who have seen it have told me the story line and in particular have remarked on the audience reaction at a certain point in the movie. The movie is "Braveheart," which is based on a true story of the rebellion of the Scottish people against the barbaric rule of the English in the 16th century. The English rape and pillage the Scottish countryside and so the Scotts rise up in rebellion. They are led by William Wallace whose wife and children were tortured and murdered by an especially wicked English nobleman. In the course of the story Wallace kills this evil man and when he does the audience breaks out in cheers. Why is that? Human beings who are made in the image of God know that evil must be punished and that the punishment cannot be disinterested and impersonal. People who do evil deserve to have evil done to them and it is right to rejoice in that justice. Now, the fact that God is a consuming fire creates terror in us not only for ourselves but for those we love and even for our enemies. While we are glad to know that one day all evil will experience the devouring fire of Acceptable worship of the true and living God requires that…
II. We draw near through the work of our priest and sacrifice (6:8-23, 7:37-38 with Hebrews 7:27) This entire passage is a description of the work of the priests in offering the various sacrifices on behalf of the people. Only the appointed and anointed priests who are clothed in the right garments can approach the altar of burnt offering and enter the tabernacle. The point is God cannot be approached apart from the work of a priest. Additionally, the priest must draw near to God on our behalf on a daily, around the clock, basis. That's the point of 6:8-23 which describes the priests daily work of tending the fire and making the twice daily burnt offerings with their accompanying grain offerings. What we see here is that 24/7 we need a holy priest who represents us to God and we need the atonement provided by a male, unblemished lamb. The only way that you and I can draw near to the God who is a consuming fire is if we are represented by a holy priest who makes atonement for our sins by a substitute. Our substitute must be consumed in the unquenchable fire of God's wrath in our place if we are going to be able to safely draw near and worship him. This representation and this atonement must be present at every moment throughout all of eternity. If the priest or the sacrifice is not present for us at any moment the fire will come out and consume us. Listen to Hebrews 7:23-27 as it describes Jesus using this language: " Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need-- one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself." So Jesus is permanently and eternally our priest and our sacrifice. He is what all those Jewish priests and all those thousands of lambs being consumed to ash in that unquenchable fire every day symbolized. Every day we draw near to this God who is a consuming fire to glorify him and to give thanks to him by means of this priest and this sacrifice. Just as no Israelite could come near without priest or sacrifice, neither can we. If you attempt to draw near without Christ you will be consumed in the unquenchable fire of God's wrath against you for your sin. You will be cut off. However, thanks be to God, there is a priest and there is a sacrifice through whom we draw near to God in order to offer acceptable worship with reverence and with awe. This we will do forever. Acceptable worship of the true and living God requires that…
III. We draw near to express our dependence on and joy in God (6:9, 14, 25, 7:1, 11-16) In this point and the last point I want us to pay attention to what these rituals tell us about our gathering together on Sunday mornings as God's people. What do we learn from these instructions to the priests about our coming together as God's people each Sunday to worship this God who is a consuming fire through and in the name of our great high priest and sacrifice, Jesus Christ? First of all, the burnt offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings all recognize that we are dependent on God for our forgiveness. We cannot be forgiven because of anything we do. God does not forgive our sins because we are truly sorry or because we punish ourselves for our sins or because we try hard to do good to make up for our sins. Our sins deserve wrath and death and thus it is only by the death of God's provided sacrifice that we can be forgiven. Thus, just as the Israelites came to the tabernacle depending on God's sacrifices for them so we come each Sunday expressing our dependence on God's promise to forgive us and accept us in Christ. Second, notice in 7:11-18 we are given more information about the peace or fellowship offerings. We talked about them in chapter 3 but here we find out why they are offered. In v. 12 we are told you can make a fellowship offering as an expression of thankfulness or literally, praise. In v. 16 the fellowship offering can be made either as the result of a vow or as a freewill offering. All three of these reasons for a fellowship offering are an expression of your joy in God and what he has done for you. Obviously, a sacrifice of praise is exactly that. Praise is the spontaneous response of the human heart to those things which it admires or loves or delights in. So a peace offering of praise is an expression of your joy in God. Offering God a sacrifice because of a vow is again a response of joyful gratitude for God doing what you asked him to do. A vow is a person telling God that he will make a certain offering in response to something that God does for him. Not as an act of barter, "I'll do this for you if you'll do this for me," but rather as an expression of gratitude. Finally, a freewill offering as William Hartley says "is offered spontaneously, joyfully, in order that a family or clan may celebrate a feast before God.” Remember these two things about the peace offering? It is voluntary and it is the only sacrifice in which the worshipper gets to eat a portion of the animal. (Many commentators believe that the only time the average Israelite ate meat was when he offered a peace offering.) The fat and internal organs are burned on the altar of burnt offering. The priest receives the breast of the animal and one of the right legs for himself and then the rest of the animal is eaten by the worshipper and his family. The peace offering is always associated with joy in God, his salvation and belonging to his community. So every week as we come together to worship the Lord we not only come reverently, remembering who we are worshipping and depending on Jesus but also joyfully. We are full of gladness that our sins are forgiven, that we belong to God, that he cares for us now and will receive us into his eternal kingdom forever. We can have this joy even if our life here is filled with sorrow and pain because all this is true through Christ no matter what is happening in our lives. Acceptable worship of the true and living God requires that…
IV. We draw near as an ordered community led by called and gifted men (6:19-23, 29, 7:7-10, 28-36) There are two things that stand out in this passage. First, God really cares about how the priests conduct themselves and what happens in all of these sacrifices. The amount of detailed instructions to the priests is enormous. In addition, failure to do exactly what God tells the Israelites to do will either make you unclean, that is, unfit for God's presence until you go through a cleansing ritual or it will cut you off from God's people, from salvation. There is an order to God's worship that cannot be missed. There are no details here that we are obligated to obey. All of this priestly work and all these sacrifices are fulfilled in Christ. There are no instructions here that we are to follow in regards to how we eat meat or how we pay our pastors. However, as the church has recognized throughout the ages these rituals apply to us in that we recognize that there are things God wants us to do to worship him and there are things that he does not want us to do in worshipping him. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:40 regarding corporate worship: "everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." There is room for wide variation in the various forms of worship which can accommodate vast cultural differences and a wide range of human preferences. However, there are a few things that the Bible says are necessary for fitting and orderly worship. The reading and teaching of God's truth, the Bible must be central. Prayer that expresses our need for God and praise and thanksgiving, both spoken and sung are also recognized as vital parts of Christian worship. Then there is the celebration of our salvation through Christ in the practice of baptism and communion. Finally, there are those acts that recognize and celebrate the fact that we are the people of God, the church, Christ's body representing him on this earth. In our church this would include things like the dedicating of children to the Lord, the commissioning of missionaries and elders, performing weddings and funerals and the taking of the offering. While where the lines should be drawn between what is appropriate and what is inappropriate in Christian worship will always be debated, yet we can say without hesitation that there are lines. We will return to this subject as we continue to work our way through Leviticus but I'm going to leave that discussion to point out one other thing. Much of this passage explains which parts of which animals and grain offerings the priests can eat. Look at the summary statement for this section in 7:35-36. This is one of the main emphases of these verses. Now the eating of the various offerings by the priests does serve a theological function. The priests do not only represent the people to God but also represent God to the people. The priests eating of the sacrifices does communicate God's acceptance of them on behalf of the people. This is what is meant by describing the offerings as most holy and the requirement that only holy priests eat them in a holy place. However, there is another, very practical function the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering and the peace offerings serve and that is that this is how the priests live. As you will notice, repeatedly the priests who serve and any of their male family members may eat of these sacrifices. (Later we will see that there are other means of support for the female members of the priest's family.) The apostle Paul uses the fact that the priest obtained their food from the sacrifices as one of the arguments for why the church is to financially support some of its elders and all of its missionaries. Listen to what he says in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14, " Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel." Finally, it is not merely an arbitrary decision to make all the priests male. The masculinity of priests is because of what masculinity is. It is not because men are more spiritual or competent or valuable than women but because of what God made maleness and femaleness to be. I don't have time to explain this now. We have a number of books and resources on the info table and in the library if you have questions. The necessity of God's people being led by called and gifted men is not only an OT phenomenon. In the NT as well, all the elders and those who engage in the regular and authoritative teaching of God's word to the entire church must be male members only. While the maleness of the priests serves the theological function of pointing to the masculinity of our savior and all that implies it also serves to underline the necessity of the apostles being male and all those who teach the apostolic message to the entire church to be male. The point is that we see in this passage that God wants to be worshipped by an ordered community, in a way that fits with who he is and the joyful salvation that he has provided. He cares about how we approach him, why we approach him and who leads us as we approach him. Acceptable worship of the true and living God requires that…
© Copyright 2008 John Swanson.
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