Leviticus 23:12-13 . . . you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.
The Book of Leviticus used to be a yawner for me. All of those rules and regulations that the Hebrews had to obey. I’ m not under the Torah or the Law as a Christian, so why is it even in my Bible? Then, I began to really study it. When I get to passages like this one, I begin to see the whole picture.
True, many of the regulations and rules were designed as wise advice for a wandering people in a hot, unfamiliar land who didn’t have a government. They had been enslaved for so long, they didn’t know how to exist in freedom. But, is that not also true for us who are freed from sin by excepting Christ into our lives? We are no longer slaves to the ways of this world, but that leaves us vulnerable and open to being swayed in the wrong direction. I think that is why we have been granted the Holy Spirit to help guide us into the new truths, just as these sojourners through the wilderness had Moses to guide them.
This passage I see as evidence that Christ came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it. Reading it in the hindsight of my Christian faith, I see that Jesus fulfilled this sacrificial requirement. Not only is He the sacrificial Lamb of God ( male without blemish ) who takes away the sins of the world, He offers Himself as the bread and wine – His body and blood symbolized in the Eucharist. Our prayers are said to be like a pleasing aroma to God, and when we pray through His Perfect Son who acts as our advocate or High Priest, we have met all the Levitical requirements through Christ. To me, that is exciting.
It shows me how wonderfully mapped out through the centuries God’s plan of salvation is, and how much He desires to be in communion with His children. It gives me confidence that He know what is going on, and what will happen in my little life. It boosts my faith just that much more. So, I am now glad that Leviticus is a part of my Bible, and my heritage of belief.
