Atonement is Made for You - Thoughts on Leviticus 16

On the day of atonement the Israelites were to humble themselves and not work. Human work and God's work of atonement never mixes. Atonement is made for you never with you. What makes you clean is not renewed work to do the right thing but by Jesus, the solitary and only scapegoat, who takes all the bad things you've done and carries them away from you into the distant wilderness of forgiveness where you could never reach on your own.

"...you shall humble you souls and not do any work, whether native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord." Lev. 16:29-30

Worshipping with Fat and Kidneys

I began Leviticus today, and every time I read Leviticus I want to know and understand more. When I come to this book I often find myself confused, at best, and completely lost, at worst. Well, I should not say completely, 'cause actually the completion and fulfillment of all the book of Leviticus requires is in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This reality is compelling shown by the writer of the Hebrews. However, there is still much in Leviticus to be mined that is helpful and beneficial to all new covenant believers.

Leviticus is not a waste of time. Just because one knows Jesus doesn't mean one should just forget about Leviticus and get to Hebrews. I am confident there is more here in Leviticus that is helpful to me and to all believers. Today a commentary helped me with things like animal fat and kidneys...

Gordon J Wenham:

"The reason for the prohibition of eating fat remains obscure. Calvin may well be right in thinking that fat was thought of as specially belonging to God. Certainly fat in the OT can be synonymous with 'the best' (Gen. 45:18, Ps. 81:17 [Eng. 16]. By giving the fat the worshipper was giving the best of the animal; and insofar as the animal was thought to represent the man, the worshipper showed he was giving God the best part of life.

The kidneys were also picked out to be burned on the altar as well as the fat surrounding them and the intestines. It is likely that some symbolism was attached to this gesture. The kidneys and entrails are referred to in the OT as the seat of the emotions (Job 19:27; Ps. 16:7; Jer. 4:14; 12:2), just as in English we talk of the heart. (The heart in the OT refers primarily to the mind and will.) It is possible that offering the kidneys and internal fat symbolizes the dedication of the worshipper's best and deepest emotions to God. For the peace offering was often tendered in intrinsically emotional situations, when a man made vows or found himself seeking God's deliverance or praising him for his mercy." The Book of Leviticus, NICOT, 80-81.

What I learned: Worship is very specific and holistic. Leviticus is rigorous in what it requires of the Israelite worshippers. This hasn't changed. God's desire is that I worship Him, and that I worship him with my mind, will, and emotions, and that I offer my life, the best in my life, to Him.

That is to say, I learned today that I need to worship God with my fat and my kidneys, but only to do so trusting Jesus who makes my worship clean and pleasing to God.

The Name

"...the Israelite's woman's son blasphemed the Name, and cursed...Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him...Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.'" Lev. 24:11, 13-14, 15

God's name is holy. It is is not to be blasphemed. It is to be the aim of all who trust Him to bring glory to this Name. To live lives that honor the Name.

Jesus is the revelation of God, God in the flesh, and it is his Name that we are to honor. In fact, the Christian is to do all in this Name. That is, of course, except blaspheme. To be a person of the Name is to take on a new identity and to live in accord with the Name you have taken.

"Let everything be done in the name of the Lord Jesus." Colossians 3:17

Just as a wife takes the name of her husband. So have Christians taken the Name of Jesus and have entered into a new family, a new covenant, in fact, have become new people.

I am one of the Name. How I desire to live a life that does not bring shame to the Name but to make the Name of Jesus famous. Christian's should hate the defamation of the Name of Jesus with brokenhearted hatred and reply not with hatred but with a life of love that takes on the calling of Jesus the embodiment of God's Name. The stones that we throw to those apart from us or even apparently with us (as this was an Israelite one of the covenant people of God) should be the Word of God, the Gospel of God, that breaks the heart of stone and makes hearts of flesh.

Whose Name are you carrying? Is it clear that it is not your own name but the Name?

Again: "Let everything be done in the name of the Lord Jesus."

Unblemished

Something God taught me a few minutes ago:

Leviticus 22:20: "You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you."

This is a problem cause: 1. I am full of blemishes; 2. Therefore anything I might offer would be blemished and imperfect. My sorrow for sin is imperfect my good deeds are not that good. No sacrifice or penance that I could offer would be enough. Verses like this make it clear: a holy God requires an unblemished sacrifice.

Hebrews 9:14: "...how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God."

Problem solved: 1. God gives what he requires; 2. God becomes the unblemished sacrifice in His incarnate Son. Now, I am accepted. My conscience is purified and all my works may be done in service to God in and through Jesus' work.

Amen.

God, Sacrifice, & Bodily Discharge

Leviticus deals with the nitty-gritty of life. Chapter 15 specifically outlines some of the biological realities of human life. A women's menstrual cycle and a man's nocturnal emission are particularly discussed. What is interesting isn't so much that the Bible discusses it, as the Bible is often raw, but that these produce an uncleanliness on behalf of his Old Covenant people that separates them from God and must be atoned for by sacrifice--a sin offering. This may at first appear a bit odd and even archaic to us, but on the whole I think it should appear as unfair.

How can an involuntary experience that every man and woman past puberty have need to be atoned for? How can this biological function that occur every month for a woman and a man while he is sleeping need atonement?

Much could be said, but I think what is key to this is that sin and human sinfulness is a nature issue not just a choice issue. We are not only separated from God for our sinful and evil external actions and internal motivation's and attitudes, but from our very nature and makeup. Sin is not always a choice. It's in deep, corrupting our very biology. This seems foreign to our ears, but it should not. We do not just sin, we are sinners.

Apparently even the uncleanliness of bodily discharges separates from the Holy God. Now, this seems all very lawful and quite gross, but there is grace here. God did provide a way of atonement. He did give the sacrifice. He did not leave them in their uncleanliness.

There is another lesson as well, God does not just care about generalities, but God is specific. Issues of heart and mind and will are not the only thing important to Him but issues of body: even semen and blood and egg. His desire is for the whole person and He has made a way.