Let’s try to use our imagination as we join Israel and enter the world of Leviticus. We might just discover ourselves a bit in some of what we see. Are you ready? Picture it with me. Let’s try to look through the eyes of the typical Israelite that we are reading about here. We are a nation of people, tribal communities, and we’re camping together out in the wilderness, open to the wind and weather. The good thing is: it doesn’t rain much, so we are not soaking in the mud all the time. The bad thing is: it doesn’t rain much, so there’s almost no water!
Are you with me?
We have just a few months earlier left our houses and homes in the familiar territory of Egypt where for 400 years our ancestors have lived, but because of a change in Egyptian power our people were reduced to slaves. Over the years many of us have become like the idol worshipping Egyptians among whom we live. We began to believe in golden calves and wild parties for worship and play. Oh, we wanted out of slavery, we’ve even been crying out to the God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob about it, hoping maybe he would help us, and we thought anything would be better than our miserable slavery to the Egyptians.
Are you still with me?
But now, out here in the desert where the water is scarce and the food is bland, and this new leader, Moses, tells us everything we are supposed to do… well… Pharaoh was bad, but the food was good, and some of us are wondering if we’ve only traded one slave master for another. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has certainly has shown us his power, but while HE has chosen US, lots of US are still deciding on whether or not we choose HIM. He is so uncontrollable! It’s as if we have no control over him at all! In fact, if anything, he controls us! He’s got us exactly where he wants us and he’s not letting go! We can’t just do for him what we want to do. He has his own ideas about everything! He’s making all the rules… and personally enforcing them! And Moses is right there with Him all the way! We’re not sure if it is God or Moses making all these decisions. We hear that we are going to a promised land, but where is it? What will we do when we get there? Where will we live? How will we defend ourselves? What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? Questions, questions, questions. Worries, worries, worries! And now this Moses has gone up Mount Sinai twice to get instructions from this terrifying God who is willing to kill us if we don’t do exactly what he says! Who is this God? What does he want from us? Why has he brought us out here to this desert? What will happen to us? Some of us would really like to go back home to Egypt!
It’s one thing to take Israel out of Egypt, but it is a lot harder to take Egypt out of Israel.
Now… let me ask you here today, is that a fair assessment of what the Bible shows about Israel at this point? There are some encouraging things. The end of Exodus shows us what Israel can do when they submit to God and do what he says. They took on the project of building God’s house and furnishing it with gusto. Then God comes to dwell among them, showing his glory as he enters the tabernacle! That’s Exodus 40. It would be nice if the story ended there and the Bible said, “Then they all lived happily ever after.” But it doesn’t end there.
Israel doesn’t want slavery, but Israel doesn’t yet submit themselves to God. Oh, when they are scared to death after he speaks they say they will do whatever God commands them, but give them a few days at the foot of Mount Sinai without the constant influence of Moses and look at them. All through this time we hear God saying about Israel: “These are a stiff necked people!” Stephen in Acts 7, Paul to the Corinthians in chapter 10, and the Hebrew writer in chapters 3-4 point out the idolatrous, rebellious, unbelieving hearts of Israel particularly at this time. God is holy, but Israel is unholy. God desires to form them into a holy nation, a royal priesthood, but they would just as soon be an idol worshipping people who can control their own lives apart from their gods. Oh, they don’t mind worshipping and sacrificing from time to time, just a long as God doesn’t interfere with the rest of their lives.
Leviticus begins with the way of worship and ends with the way of holy living. God wants both.
Israel wants God’s power to help them, but on their own terms. God is God! He is not an idol that people can manipulate and invent their own ways of worshipping and separate themselves from whenever it is convenient. God is God! He is holy and enters a relationship with us because he loves us and desires us to know and love him. But we don’t love God on our terms and by our own standards. We can’t have a partial relationship with God where we do what HE wants over here but do whatever we want somewhere else.
God’s calling and choosing are not partial or controllable by us. God never says to us, “Not my will, but your will be done!” Leviticus shows us who is the Creator and who is the worshipping creature, called by God to become like God.
If Leviticus shows us anything at all, it demonstrates that God has particular, specific prescriptions about our lives that are both binding and revealing. They are binding in that we are required to do them. They are revealing in that God’s holy character is shown in them.
Does God just want our outward obedience without our hearts? Of course not! But the popular idea today is to say that God doesn’t care about the outward as long as the heart is right. That is also false. God desires heart, soul, mind and strength from us. Love, submission, obedience, faithfulness… all of these! God desires a real relationship!
Can you imagine a marriage with someone who does what you desire, but actually doesn’t care for you at all? In fact, the only reason they comply to the behaviors you desire is because they are afraid not to. In their hearts they want out, and are constantly looking and longing for someone else. Would you be satisfied with that? Is that what a marriage is supposed to look like? Sadly, that describes some marriages.
Or, imagine a marriage with someone who loves you with all their heart, but just can’t stay faithful to you. They are constantly cheating on you, not because they really want out, but because they have a weakness for the come-ons from others. You just don’t satisfy their impulsive passions. In their hearts they want you, and even when they are with others, they think about you. Would you be satisfied with that? Is that what a marriage should look like? Sadly, that also describes some marriages.
When God chooses us, he wants us inside and out, outward obedience and inward devotion, all of it, without exception, reserve, compromise, excuse, or expiration date.
With God, it’s not till death do us part, but till death do us enter his glory forever.
What we see in Exodus and through Leviticus and the rest of these books of Moses, is God revealing himself to Israel whom he has chosen for himself. He is not just their idol whom they can offer a sacrifice to and then go about their own business and forget. He is more like their husband who is moving in with them... Reluctantly at times, because he knows their hearts and actions. He has given Moses instructions in Exodus about his house and furniture. God almost seems here and there to have had reservations, due to their resistance and rebellion and constant bickering about how things are moving along. But God is persistent.
How does God become one with his chosen bride Israel when she will not love and respect him? God has chosen Israel as his beloved. God is true to Israel, but she is not true to him. God is faithful to Israel, but she is not faithful to him. God protects and provides for and even punishes Israel, but she resists and resents and rebels over and over again. The prophets will later pick up on this theme of marriage between God and Israel and replay it in their preaching to Israel over and over again calling them to repentance.
The marriage between God and his beloved Israel is not without much pain and struggle. We will never appreciate how much God has done and sacrificed to bring Israel to himself and himself to Israel. What we observe most in Leviticus is God’s instructions about how an idolatrous people who are unholy and unclean, may be formed into a holy nation with dignity and cleanliness of heart, soul, mind and body. God takes an unrighteous nation of slaves and works to form in them those things that are holy, true and good.
What does it take to transform unholy people into holy people? What does it take to cleanse the spiritual, moral uncleanness out of us and make us clean? Did you notice all the things that incur the death penalty?
God provides for everything to make Israel a holy nation, the instruction and the enforcement. We also see the spiritual nature within all of this that shows us Jesus. The process involves giving ourselves to God, denying our unclean desires, rejecting our unholy habits. God supplies the cleansing forgiveness through his gracious sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God supplies the holiness through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds.
Listen to Leviticus 11: 44 ’For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.
45 ’For I am the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be holy for I am holy.’"
Where in Leviticus do you see Jesus? We could look at the sacrifices, the priesthood, the blood, the holiness and cleanness taught here. And we could spend lots of time showing how Jesus fulfills all of this for us and to us. But, for application sake, let’s consider briefly the one character who represents Jesus best, who God used to deliver, lead and instruct Israel. I’m talking, of course about Moses.
Who among all the people of Israel wants the relationship of God and Israel to work out?
Moses. Think of it. When God says to him, and I quote: Exodus 32:7 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
8 "They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ’This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’"
9 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.
10 "Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them, and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation."
What does Moses do? Amazingly enough, Moses begs God not to destroy them, and pleads with God to let them live, reminding God of the promise to Abraham and telling God that Egypt will use it to speak against him.
Moses. Of all the people of Israel, he who resisted God at first becomes more and more like God. His devotion to God and Israel grow more and more throughout his life. And it is Moses that stands tall in the Old Testament.
In Leviticus Moses receives the instructions and gives them faithfully to Israel. Moses sets up the priests and coaches them in how to perform all the worship. Moses goes before God over and over and comes back glowing from the exposure to God’s glory. Moses walks with God, and Moses longs more than anyone else for Israel to walk with God too. Moses wants Israel to be God’s people. The entire end of his life is lived to accomplish this one thing. And as long as Moses lives, Israel continues to remain under the formation of God’s sanctifying influence. But God tells Moses that after Moses dies, the people will turn away from him and go after other gods. They will forsake the covenant of God and follow after their own desires and passions.
Moses stands alone as the one man of his time whom God used most powerfully to deliver Israel and form them into a nation under God.
Now… here are the application questions and the lesson is yours:
1. Who is your Moses? Everyone needs a Moses who will help them walk with God. Everyone needs a Moses who will speak the truth of God to them and work to form us into the will and ways of God.
Just think of it. When God decided to free Israel, he didn’t simply show up and do it alone. God used Moses, the reluctant leader, to do it.
2. Who are influencing for God like Moses? There are others watching you. You make a difference. God wants others to know him better through you and your life. Stay aware of that!
Moses gave up the last 40 years of his life to accomplish this work of bringing Israel to God and God to Israel. He was faithful and he was effective.
Jesus gave up even more. Jesus sacrificed his body and blood to bring you to God and God to you!
