What are the rules at the dinner table? A common rule is to simply wash your hands before dinner. Any parent knows it is important to get any dirt or bacteria off before someone gets sick. Last week we saw how God gave instructions on cleanliness and purity in different areas of Israelite life. He also gave instructions on how to become pure if you encountered something impure. Public health, nutrition, general hygiene makes sense to the modern reader, but some of the instructions do not fit neatly into categories in our mind. They might even seem odd or even offensive. Remember to let God speak for Himself to the purpose. The primary purpose is to set Israel apart as an example to the nations. These instructions were a radically loving act, because it is deadly for anything impure to be in the presence of a holy God. The clearest example was the death of Nadab and Abihu after they showed gross irreverence as priests. Leviticus is the first time God’s people have a clear and proper way to approach a holy God, and it shows God’s intimate involvement and faithfulness. This week continue to pay attention to the ways God is going to make sure Israel is set apart to represent Him before the nations.
Each week, as you take in the Bible, find some friends to talk it out. You can follow this simple guide to help. First, R.E.A.D. and P.R.A.Y. on your own. Then, meet with friends to share what you've learned.
R - Repeated words
E - Examine and mark
A - Ask what you learn about God
D - Do if there is anything to do
P - Praise
R - Repent
A - Ask
Bible Plan Reading - Week 12
START IT.
We're reading the Bible together in 2024. Specifically, we're taking a journey into how the story of the Bible unfolded in the Old Testament. If we get the big picture, we get the story the Bible is trying to tell us. From Sunday's message or The Big Picture Bible Reading Plan this week in the book of Leviticus, what is impacting you the most? Was there a word, phrase, Bible verse, or theme that impacted you?
STUDY IT.
Leviticus 13-15 and 18-20 summarize God’s commands for purity in different areas of life. God’s reasoning is summarized in Leviticus 20:22-26. Did God choose or separate Israel before or after they were commanded to be holy in Leviticus 20:26? What will the consequence be if the Israelites do not keep God’s command according to Leviticus 18:28 and Leviticus 20:22?
Leviticus 16-17 deal with the Day of Atonement. What was the overall purpose according to Leviticus 16:33? How often was this total reset accomplished in Leviticus 16:34? Notice that inside the camp is associated with God’s presence and sanctification/purity. Outside the camp is associated with impurity, death, and sin.
The Day of Atonement included two goats being killed. What was the purpose of the first goat according to Leviticus 16:9, 15-19? What did the second goat carry outside the camp into the wilderness according to Leviticus 16:21-22? The second goat presumably died of either exposure or by being torn apart by wild animals in the wilderness outside the camp. How does the day of atonement point to Christ?
Blood is a major theme in Leviticus. What does the Bible say about where life is found in Genesis 9:4? According to Romans 5:9, how are we made right to God? Read 1 Corinthians 11:25. What does the cup represent in the LORD’s Supper? How might life being found in the blood be true on a physical and spiritual level?
Leviticus 21-22 deal with instructions to Priests, as did Chapters 8-10. What do you notice is different about the standards for priests? Are the standards more strict or less strict than for the non-priests? What is the reasoning behind the holiness requirement for Israel repeatedly given? See Leviticus 22:31-33.
SHARE IT.
Does reading through the Bible (Old Testament) as the events unfolded excite you or something else?
How have you been reminded of Jesus in the reading through Leviticus this week? How does the Day of Atonement and standards in Leviticus point to Jesus?
How has the story of Leviticus so far been shocking, or have you noticed something in the text you previously had not?
Leviticus 18-20 has lots of commands regarding justice and purity in daily life. What stuck out to you? What did you agree with or how was it confusing? How do you see these commands being relevant to our society today?
Leviticus 20:4 speaks to the Israelites ignoring injustice instead of exhibiting God’s character by rooting it out. How might this challenge you today on sins you might ignore in your own life? How are you being God’s ‘image’ today by representing Christ? How are you being an ambassador for Christ to the people/nations around you?
FINAL THOUGHT
God made man as an ‘image’ of Himself, and then instructed Adam and Eve to go out in the world to spread more of Himself. God wants to share Himself, the ultimate good, with all creation. He purposed to do that through people, made from dirt, not angels. People get to share in the joy of being an image of God, and then spreading God’s goodness through multiplying and subduing the earth. Adam and Eve fall into sin and death. God gives them a promise of a descendant to fix the situation, and then gives an instruction to fill the earth and subdue it. Instead of God’s image, wickedness fills the earth. God judges the earth through the flood. God starts over with Noah after the flood, but again the people turn wicked. It culminates in the Tower of Babel, and instead of a world of image bearers, mankind gathers to challenge God. The nations are scattered under judgement from God for their rebellion. They are given over to worship idols, with different languages and cultures. Filling the world with God’s image seems to have gotten farther away, near impossible. God starts over with Abraham and Sarah, a barren couple from one of the pagan nations scattered under judgement. God promises Abraham that He would bless all nations through him and his descendants. The nation of Israel is born. God says that Israel will be His “treasured possession” and a “kingdom of priests…a holy nation.” All the rebellious nations scattered at Babel will see God through His people. Israel will be God’s ‘image’ to the nations. Israel worships the golden calf, and is receiving instructions on how to deal with their sin and impurity. That is where we are in the story, but we know the ending. One day, the perfect Image of God, God in the flesh, would come through Israel to bless all nations through His scattered blood. He loved God and His neighbor perfectly. At the end of all things, Jesus will subdue the earth and all enemies. He will fill the world with His treasured possession, His people, from every tribe, tongue, and nation to the glory of God the Father. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of all God intended, as well as the undoing of all that separates mankind from God. The bloody book of Leviticus, in that big picture, makes sense as a coherent foreshadowing of Jesus’ atonement (Hebrews 9). As Christians awaiting Jesus’ complete subduing of evil, “…we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore (our neighbors out to the nations) on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)