Latest / Reformed Thinking / Leviticus: The God Who Dwells with His People | Thomas R. Schreiner

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Leviticus: The God Who Dwells with His People | Thomas R. Schreiner · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome back to Reform Thinking. Today we are opening a book that
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I think for a lot of people often sits untouched between
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Exodus and Numbers. It's a book many of us skip
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right over, maybe because it just feels too archaic or, I
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don't know, too bloody or just full of all these seemingly
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disconnected very minute rules. The Book of Leviticus.
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And it is, you know, arguably the ultimate instruction manual
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for ancient Israel. But it's content is so often
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misunderstood. People see all the detailed
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regulations and they completely miss the larger the overwhelming
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theological tension that the book is actually designed to
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resolve. That tension is really the core
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of our deep dive today. I mean, the narrative just stops
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cold in Exodus, with the holy God descending to dwell among
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his people in the Tabernacle. And that sounds like it should
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be the victorious climax of the whole redemption story.
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But Leviticus steps in immediately to ask this, this
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terrifying question. How can the Holy God continue to
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live in the midst of Israel, a sinful people, without just
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annihilating them? Exactly.
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This book is in a very real sense the required handbook for
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survival. And for this deep dive, we've
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got sources covering the linguistic analysis of atonement
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terms, which I have to say provides some surprising clarity
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on the satisfaction of divine justice.
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OK. We're also looking at the
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mechanics of sacrifice, the real purpose of the purity laws, and
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most critically, the canonical fulfillment of this entire
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strict system in Jesus Christ. So our mission today is to dive
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deep into those strict protocols, to distill the rules
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of God's theocracy, and hopefully to uncover the
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specific, beautiful grace that undergirds every single command,
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every protocol, every sacrifice, and every purity law.
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It's the hinge. It's the hinge between
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redemption and residence. To really get Leviticus, I think
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we have to start with the danger.
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The story pauses right after Exodus ends, not with a happy
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ending, but with a philosoph problem.
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It's a huge problem. God's spectacular presence, His
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glory, has filled the newly constructed Tabernacle, and that
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signifies his victory over all the Egyptian gods and his
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commitment to his people. But that glorious presence is, I
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mean, it's inherently catastrophic for sinful humans.
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It is existentially dangerous. God is fearsome in His Holiness.
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His presence is so intense that it's immediately destructive to
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anything, anything at all that is incompatible with His
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perfection. So Leviticus is the book that
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solves this this inevitable problem of pollution.
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Yes, the people are sinful. God is holy.
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They have to coexist without the people being instantly consumed.
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It's that simple and that serious.
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In that sense, our sources describe Leviticus as
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functioning almost like a political document.
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That is not just theology. It's the Constitution for a
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nation that has to survive divine kingship.
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Precisely, it describes Israel as a theocracy, a state ruled
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directly by God, and it details exactly how the nation must
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structure its life, its worship, its ethics, everything to
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survive under God's direct, fiery rule without being
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annihilated. If you take out Leviticus.
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If you remove Leviticus, you move the entire mechanism by
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which the covenant community can survive the presence of its own
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king. It's that foundational.
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And the centrality of God's presence, it just, it permeates
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the entire text. You can track it through the
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sheer repetition of certain phrases.
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The book is profoundly God centered in its orientation, and
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the language makes that so apparent.
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The phrase before the Lord appears an astonishing 60 times
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in Leviticus. 60 times. 60 Everything is oriented around
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the fact that they are operating, sacrificing, living
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and legislating directly in front of the Holy One.
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There is no escaping his days or his standards.
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And the goal was never just freedom from Egypt.
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The ultimate goal was this, this dangerous proximity.
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It was closeness. The whole goal of God's saving
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act in the Exodus was stated as that I might be their God.
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The supreme blessing of the covenant is expressed in that
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promise. I will walk among you and will
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be your God. That phrase just reveals the
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Lord's ardent desire for fellowship and closeness.
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But that very desire is what creates the life and death
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danger, which then necessitates all these rigorous protocols.
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Which brings us to the danger of profanation, of tainting the
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holy. It's just established
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immediately and well, lethally. Yes, it is.
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We don't even get that far into the book before we encountered
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the story of Nadab and Abiahu in chapter 10, right at the
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inauguration of the priestly system.
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And it is a shocking graphic warning that establishes the
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absolute stakes for the entire book.
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Nadab and Abiahu were priests. These were men set apart for
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this very task, sons of Aaron. Right, they were the insider.
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They were, yet they were killed because they offered what the
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text calls unauthorized fire before the Lord.
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And this serves as this immediate, severe theological
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anchor. God's holiness dictates strict
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rules. Any deviation, any profanation,
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incurs the liability of death instantly.
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They died instantly, and the sources explain the theological
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specifics of their crime. Their primary duty as priests
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was to, and I'm quoting here, distinguish between the holy and
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the common and between the unclean and the clean.
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OK, By presenting something common or forbidden, this
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unauthorized fire as if it were acceptable, they egregiously
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violated that duty. They failed to glorify God by
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showing the intensity of His Holiness.
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So it wasn't just a simple procedural mistake, it was a
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deep failure to honor the uniqueness of God's presence.
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Precisely. They blemished God's holiness
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rather than glorifying Him. And the sources stress that
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God's glory will devour anyone who approached the holy, unclean
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or unworthily. The lesson is that God is holy
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and He must be sanctified by those who draw near to Him.
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If you fail to acknowledge that separation, the separation will
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be enforced violently. And the punishment itself was,
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you know, a vivid reflection of the crime.
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It was a clear quid pro quo judgement, a reciprocal
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judgement, because they introduced unauthorized fire.
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Fire descended from the Lord and obliterated them.
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A consuming fire for a forbidden fire.
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Exactly. Their death serves as a
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perpetual warning. Humble, precise obedience to the
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Lord's directives is the only way to survive the flaming
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holiness of the Lord. The notion that human creativity
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or ingenuity could somehow improve upon God's plan is just.
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It's utterly excluded from the sacred space.
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This is where we can get back to that analogy of a high voltage
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chamber. If you think of God's presence
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as a system running on this immense, incomprehensible
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voltage, the levitical system, all the rules, the priests, the
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protocols, they're the safety mechanisms.
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They're the insulation, the grounding wires, the specific
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equipment designed to handle that voltage.
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And if you disregard the protocol if you introduce a
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foreign catalyst, which is what the unauthorized fire was.
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You create an immediate catastrophic short circuit.
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The reaction is instantaneous and lethal, and it's not because
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the source is malicious, it's because its inherent nature just
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consumes anything incompatible with its purity and its
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magnitude. The survival of the entire
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community hinged on the absolute obedience of the priests.
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That's a staggering. Burden.
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It really is. Knowing this terror, let's pivot
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and look at the gracious intent behind the architecture itself.
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That's a wonderful transition because after setting the rules
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for survival, the gravity of the holy Leviticus then focuses on
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the intent, which is entirely relational.
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We often picture the Tabernacle as this magnificent piece of
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architecture. You know all gold and precision,
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but the language used in the book actually minimizes the
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building and maximizes the relationship.
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How significant is that difference in terminology?
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I mean, how much does it really tell?
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Us it's extremely telling. The technical term Tabernacle,
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which describes the physical structure and its architecture,
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appears only three times in Leviticus.
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Only three times? Yeah.
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In the entire book, yes. That's strikingly infrequent for
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a book that is all about governing the use of that very
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structure. So what's the focus term then?
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The phrase tent of meeting appears 41 times. 41 Wow, OK.
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The frequency just emphasizes that the structure was not just
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an edifice, but a designated place of deliberate, hoped for
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interaction. The terminology highlights that
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the Lord dwells with His people and that their greatest joy
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comes from fellowship with Him, not from marveling at the
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quality of the craftsmanship. So if tabernacles are like the
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blueprint tent of meeting is the mission statement.
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Precisely. Or think of the difference
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between calling a structure a house versus calling it a home
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Yeah, House describes the physical structure, the
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dimensions, the materials used. Home emphasizes the
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relationships, the welcoming atmosphere, the interaction, the
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life that happens inside. Leviticus uses Tent of Meeting
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almost exclusively to focus on the relationship between the
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resident king, who is God, and the family which is Israel.
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It underscores that God didn't just want obedience, He wanted
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communion. He wanted communion.
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And that desire for communion is realized not just in the name,
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but in the entire economy of sacrifice.
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If all we ever talked about was the danger of profanation and
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the removal of sin, we'd miss the positive goal of the system.
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We have to look at the fellowship offerings.
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Absolutely, the structure of the five main offerings, which
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really demonstrate the comprehensive nature of the
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levitical economy, shows that the system was built for much
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more than just, you know, damage control.
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So let's take a moment to briefly clarify these five
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different offerings. Our sources suggest that
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understanding the full scope is vital to getting God's
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relationship with Israel. It is.
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The five offerings are traditionally grouped into two
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categories, those focused on atonement and those focused on
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fellowship or devotion. OK, let's start with the
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atonement group. That's the sin offering and the
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guilt offering. Right.
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The sin offering was required for general, often
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unintentional, transgressions against God's standard,
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particularly those that required purification of the sanctuary
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itself. Its purpose was expiation,
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covering the sin so that the Sinner could be reconciled and
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purified. And the guilt offering, how is
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that different? That was distinct.
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The guilt offering which you find in Leviticus 5 was required
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when a specific injury had been done either to God, holy things,
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or to another person, and this injury involved restitution.
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Restitution. Yes, the offer not only had to
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sacrifice the prescribed animal, but also pay the injured party
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or the temple treasury the full amount of loss plus a 20%
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penalty. It was about making restitution
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for tangible injury caused by sin.
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That brings in a strong legal component.
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It shows that sin isn't just a spiritual issue, it's an
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infringement that demands actual repayment.
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It does. Then you have the three
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offerings that are focused more on devotion and fellowship.
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First, the burnt offering, which is right there in the 1st
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chapter of Leviticus. And the characteristic of the
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burnt offering is that the entire animal was consumed on
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the altar, right? That's the key to its meaning.
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It signified total unreserved consecration of the worshipper
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to God because the whole animal was consumed.
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It represented the worshippers complete dedication and
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obedience to God, ascending as a pleasing aroma of acceptance.
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OK. And then there was the grain
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offering. The grain offering or meal
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offering was always offered alongside a burnt offering or a
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peace offering. It was a bloodless offering, and
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it represented a tribute of the fruits of their labor.
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It functioned as an act of Thanksgiving and worship,
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acknowledging God's provision in their daily lives.
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And finally, that brings us to the peace or fellowship offering
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in Chapter 3. This is the one that returns us
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squarely to the relational goal of the system.
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While the other 4 offerings dealt with sin or dedication,
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the fellowship offering was unique.
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How so? The worshippers aim was simply
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to enjoy fellowship with the Lord, to express gratitude and
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to renew the covenant relationship.
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This was the only sacrifice where the worshipper received a
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portion of the meat back to eat in a sacred meal with the Lord
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in the presence of the Tabernacle.
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Wait, hold on. So the Lord accepts the
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offering, a portion is burned, and then the worshippers and
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their families sit down and share a feast on the meat and
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God's presence. Yes, this demonstrates that the
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system was never just a mechanical mechanism for erasing
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sins. It was instituted so human
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beings could enjoy the wonder and loveliness of God's presence
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without being consumed. They could approach not in fear
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of eternal judgement, but enjoy and Thanksgiving, celebrating
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the fact that atonement had been made and that their relational
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status was intact. Fellowship was the destination.
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The sacrifice was the path to get there.
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So if fellowship is the destination, then atonement is
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the the necessary infrastructure to bridge that gap created by
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sin. Good way to put it.
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We need to be absolutely precise about what the Levitical system
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meant by atonement, because this definition really shapes our
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understanding of the gospel itself.
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It's the mechanism by which fellowship is maintained.
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The sacrifices exist to atone for sins so that God can safely
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continue to dwell with His people.
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The core rationale is laid out in Leviticus 17.11, which our
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sources identify as the pivotal verse defining the system.
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It is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
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The connection between blood, life and atonement is immediate
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there. The shedding of blood signifies
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the surrender of life or death. Therefore, the verse tells us
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that atonement is achieved through the death of a
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substitute. The life that is forfeited
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covers the sin, preventing God's wrath from consuming the Sinner.
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And the substitutionary mechanics are ritualized in that
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profound act of the laying on of hands.
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This is the critical transfer ritual.
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The worshipper approaches the Tabernacle, places their hands
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firmly on the animals head and confesses their sin.
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This act symbolizes the transfer of sins and guilt from the human
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worshipper to the animal victim. So this is more than just a
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formality, it's a legal conveyance of liability.
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It is a legal transfer because the guilt is transferred.
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The animal then dies the death the Sinner deserves.
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The sacrifice graphically demonstrates that the penalty
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for sin is death, and the animal pays that penalty in the
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sinner's place. So it was a true life for life
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transaction where the substitute assumes the penalty.
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It is the sources quote scholar Gordon Wenham, who notes that
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what he, the worshipper, does to the animal, he does symbolically
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to himself. So to use that data analogy
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again, the priest isn't just wiping a few files off a hard
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drive. No, the sinner's entire
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corrupted liability is transferred onto an external
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proxy, which is then legally terminated.
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And during the corruption is permanently removed from the
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main system so it can keep running in God's presence.
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That analogy helps illustrate the gravity.
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Now we can move to the linguistic depth that supports
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this conclusion. The Hebrew verb is kipper, which
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we translate as to a tone. OK, This verb is later connected
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to the Greek verb he'll askomi when the Septuagint translated
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the Old Testament. And the meaning of that Greek
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term, he'll Askomi. That's been the source of some
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significant debate in theological circles.
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Hasn't. It it has for a time, certain
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scholars argue that Halaszkami referred only to making
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preptitious in a neutral sense, or maybe just the release of
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life. They tried to argue that the
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idea of God actively demanding and receiving the satisfaction
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of his anger was a later, less sophisticated theological
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development. But our sources, through careful
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study of the context in both Leviticus and broader Greek
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literature, they push back against that less robust
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definition. They absolutely do.
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Careful contextual study of Halaszkami demonstrates that its
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core meaning refers specific to the appeasement or the
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satisfaction of God's wrath. The conclusion drawn by the
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sources is that kipper signifies a substitutionary death.
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The shedding of blood pays a penalty that successfully
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quieted God's necessary and righteous anger against the
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Sinner. So atonement isn't just about
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covering sin from our perspective so we feel better.
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It fundamentally changes God's disposition toward the Sinner by
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satisfying His justice, its propitiation in its fullest
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sense. That is the crucial insight of
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Reformed theology derived from these texts.
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The sacrifice absorbs that righteous wrath.
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If the wrath isn't dealt with, the Sinner is consumed, right?
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Since the Sinner isn't consumed, the wrath must have been
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successfully diverted and satisfied by the substitute.
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Which brings us to a related concept, the recurring
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theological term pleasing aroma. Yeah, we tend to think of that
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phrase very literally, you know, the smell of burning meat.
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But the sources suggest it's far more significant than that.
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It is a legal and relational signal.
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The pleasing aroma signals that a sacrifice has successfully
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satisfied God's wrath and appeased His anger.
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It serves as the indicator that the substitutionary death was
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accepted by God as payment for the life debt owed.
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It's the divine confirmation. A divine receipt, almost.
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Yes, the aroma is the paid in full information stamp.
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The payment itself is the substitutionary blood, but the
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aroma is the acceptance signal from the Divine creditor
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confirming the account is settled and that no legal
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action, no judgment or wrath will be taken against the
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debtor. It confirms that the high
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voltage environment is temporarily safe.
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And again, we can look back at the negative proof Nate, AB and
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Abihu. They're unauthorized fire did
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not produce a pleasing aroma. And therefore God's anger was
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not mollified. The fire didn't ascend in
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acceptance, it descended in judgement, obliterating them.
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The pleasing aroma is the legal, relational and theological sign
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that they are restored to favor with God through the accepted
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substitute. It's why it's repeated so often
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with the fellowship and dedication offerings.
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The immense effort required to manage God's holiness and our
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sin. It culminates in the most solemn
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and restricted ritual of the entire year, the Day of
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Atonement, Yom Kippur. It's detailed so painstakingly
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in Leviticus chapter 16. This chapter is the absolute
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zenith of the Levitical system. It showcases the most severe
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restriction of access to God's immediate presence.
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We have to remember the context. God's presence fills the
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innermost chamber, the Holy of Holies dwelling above the Mercy
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seat. And access to that Holy of
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Holies was permitted to only one person, the High Priest, and
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only once a year. That severe limitation
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underscored the intensity of God's holiness more than any
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other single element. It shouted from the rooftops
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that God is holy other and cannot be approached casually or
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even regularly. And the fate of Nadab and Abayu
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was the ever present threat hanging over the high priest on
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that day. It was if he failed a single
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point of the protocol, he would die instantly.
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Which means the priest had to submit his entire preparation
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and his entire performance to God's written law.
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No ad libbing. Absolutely.
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The high priest had to follow the rituals exactly as
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prescribed, emphasizing again that human creativity and
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ingenuity are excluded. Even the spiritual leader of the
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entire nation, the one closest to the presence, had to rely on
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humble, precise obedience as the only path to safe entry and
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exit. What were the specific critical
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protective measures required for his very survival in that space?
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Well, first he had to cleanse himself.
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He didn't wear his glorious golden robes, but simple linen
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garments which signified humility and purity.
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But even a clean mortal man cannot look upon the Shekinah
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glory manifested over the Mercy Seat and live.
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So he needed a screen, yes. He was required to ensure a
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cloud of incense covered the mercy seat before he sprinkled
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the blood. He literally had to enter the
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space with a smokescreen so that he may not die.
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The cloud provided an atmospheric buffer between the
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holy God and the sinful man, even the purified man.
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And the purpose of the blood wasn't just for the people, it
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was for the place itself. That is so often overlooked.
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The physical sanctuary had been polluted by the people's ongoing
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sin throughout the year. That's right.
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Access required sacrificial blood, the blood of the bull for
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the priest himself, and then the blood of the goat for the
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people. The high priest had to sprinkle
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the blood of the sin offering on the mercy seat to atone for the
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uncleannesses of the people and crucially, to cleanse the very
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location of God's indwelling. Israel's sin was so pervasive it
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polluted the very ground the Tabernacle stood on.
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It required an annual, terrifying cleansing ritual.
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And this cleansing ritual is where the dual fate of sin,
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substitution and removal is so graphically pictured through the
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ritual of the two goats. We have to hold these two goats
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together. They are two halves of the same
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theological whole. The ritual employed 2 distinct
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actions to comprehensively address Israel's guilt.
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OK, tell us about the first goat.
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The first goat was the sin offering.
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It was slain immediately, and its blood was taken into the
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Holy of Holies. Its death secured forgiveness
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through substitutionary death, satisfying the required penalty
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for the people's sins. That's the payment.
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And the second goat, the famous Azazel goat.
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The second goat, the Azazel goat, was crucial for
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symbolizing the comprehensive removal of the forgiven sin.
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The term Azazel itself likely refers to a place or a state of
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being utterly removed or sent away after the high priest
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confessed all of Israel's sins, using that same laying on of
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hands ritual to symbolically transfer the iniquities onto its
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head, the live goat was led away by a designated man into the
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remote wilderness. And the sources confirm the
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visual impact of this removal was a big deal.
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Oh huge. The live goat bears the sins on
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itself to a remote, uninhabited area.
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It was sent to a place that was utterly away from the presence
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of God and away from the community.
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It wasn't enough for the sin to be paid for.
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The people needed to see that their guilt was not lingering.
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The visual illustrates the eviction and removal of guilt
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far away from God's presence, confirming the community was
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clean. So the first goat satisfied
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God's wrath by taking the penalty, and the second goes
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showed the people that the sins were completely gone, banished
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from the camp, never to return. The Day of Atonement therefore
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highlighted God's holiness in that access was terrifyingly
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restricted, but overwhelmingly it highlighted His grace that He
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himself provided the means, the high priest, the blood, the
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goats to secure atonement because of his commitment to
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dwell with His chosen people. So the sacrifices dealt with the
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great annual problem of sin, but Leviticus is equally concerned
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with the thousands of little problems in daily life.
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I mean a huge portion. Chapters 11 through 15 is
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dedicated to these highly specific purity regulations,
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things about food, skin diseases, mold, bodily
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discharges. These laws can seem so far
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removed from the Tabernacle rituals.
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They are not removed at all. They are directly connected to
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the Tabernacle's presence. These purity laws were strictly
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enforced to prevent the defilement of God's dwelling
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place. Israel was warned that failure
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to separate from uncleanness meant they might die in their
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uncleanness by defiling my Tabernacle that is in their
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midst. The presence of God demanded a
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clean, separated and orderly environment.
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Now, our sources were quick to dismiss the common theory that
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these laws were primarily for public health reasons.
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Why is that? Well, that claim just isn't
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supported by the tax, and it's contradicted by the New
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Testament. I mean, if they were purely for
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health, the laws would still be binding today.
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The most satisfying theological explanation is that these laws
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serve the purpose of distinction.
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Distinction from whom? Distinction from the surrounding
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nations, the Gentiles. These laws dictating what they
23:10
could eat, how they handled disease, how they manage daily
23:14
life, created a deliberate social barrier by restricting
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things like table fellowship and dictating specific conduct.
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They separated Israel from Pagan idolatry and immoral practices,
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marking them out as distinct, holy, and set apart for the
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Lord. They created a cordon, A
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boundary around God's presence. What about physical conditions
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like diseases or certain bodily discharges?
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Our sources clarify these weren't always sinful in
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themselves, yet they made a person ritually unclean and
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required a sacrifice to re enter the community.
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They served as a powerful metaphor.
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Physical uncleanness was often associated with death, decay, or
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things outside of God's ordered creation.
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So while the conditions were not inherently sinful, they rendered
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a person ritually unfit for the presence.
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Why? Because physical uncleanness
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pointed analogically to Israel's internal sinfulness, their
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mortality, and their general lack of wholeness.
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That's necessary to stand before the Holy One.
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So the ritual uncleanness served as a dramatic daily visual aid.
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It reflected the moral uncleanness that needed the
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atonement system. That's it.
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And this connection between ritual status and inner
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character is what leads right into the famous Holiness code.
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Exactly. The Holiness Code, which is
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chapters 17 through 27, shifts the focus from managing ritual
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purity around the Tabernacle to managing moral purity in the
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camp. It's driven by that single
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central command. You shall be holy, for I the
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Lord your God, am holy. And this holiness is primarily
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ethical, not just ritualistic. It demands that Israel's life be
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patterned after the Lord's character.
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Let's talk specifics here. What does this ethical holiness
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look like in concrete daily actions?
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It covers every aspect of community life.
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For example, in Leviticus 19, the demand for justice requires
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things like fair courts, not spreading slander, and having
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just weights and measures when you're trading.
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God is a God of justice, so Israel must execute justice in
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the marketplace. And the demand for love, which
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we so often associate with the New Testament, is equally
25:16
rigorous here. It is fundamental holiness
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demanded radical, tangible love for one's neighbor.
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This is seen in instructions like caring for the poor by
25:26
leaving the gleanings of the field and the vineyard
25:28
unharvested for them. It demanded that they should not
25:31
harbor hatred against your brother, and perhaps most
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strikingly, that they must love the resident alien as yourself,
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for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
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That is a direct, grateful response.
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Response to the saving grace they experienced in the Exodus.
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They were aliens, but God showed the mercy.
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Therefore, they must show mercy to aliens in their land.
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The ethical life is profoundly God centered.
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It's grounded in his character and in his saving work.
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The holiness required involves a dual dynamic.
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God is the one who sanctifies Israel.
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He provides the status and the means of cleansing.
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But Israel must actively strive for holiness through obedience,
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which the sources stress is not an oppressive duty but a
26:13
grateful, joyous response to the saving grace the Lord showed
26:17
them when He delivered them from Egypt.
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So the system ensures that if they were clean enough to eat at
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God's table and the fellowship offering, they must also act
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justly and love your neighbor outside the tent.
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The ritual and the ethical life are inseparable.
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That's right. We have established the
26:31
impossible problem, God's holiness versus human sin, and
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the comprehensive, highly restrictive yet graceful
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solution provided by the Levitical protocols.
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Now we can move to the canonical understanding of this entire
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structure. And the sources emphasized that
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the Levitical system isn't abolished as if it were some
26:47
failed experiment, but rather it is fulfilled and completed in
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Jesus Christ. That is the cornerstone of
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Christian theology derived from these texts.
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The whole system was shadow. Christ is the substance.
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The animal sacrifices were preparatory scaffolding.
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Christ is the canonical realization of the ritual, the
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Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
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The Old Covenant system was temporary.
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It was. It had an expiry date written
27:13
into its very structure and that expiry date was met.
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So if the shadow is fulfilled, what makes Christ's sacrifice
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definitively superior to the sacrifices that were made every
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single day in the Tabernacle? Our New Testament sources,
27:27
especially the book of Hebrews, provide the comprehensive
27:29
answer. The Old Covenant sacrifices were
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inherently inferior because they were repetitive.
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They required annual, sometimes daily, repetition because the
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animal blood could not bring complete forgiveness or truly
27:40
cleanse the human conscience. They served to cover sin,
27:44
deferring God's judgment, but they could not permanently
27:47
remove the guilt. Either placeholders, yes, they
27:49
were pointing to the real thing. Precisely in contrast is once
27:53
for all. It is sufficient, final and
27:56
eternal. It brings about complete
27:58
justification and redemption. The theological language we
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derived from Leviticus, substitution and satisfaction is
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perfectly applied. Romans 8.3 shows that God sent
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His Son as the sin offering, and because that offering was
28:11
sufficient and accepted for those who belong to Him, there
28:14
is no condemnation. The payment worked permanently
28:17
and the fact that the sacrifice. Is final.
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That fundamentally changes the entire system of access to God's
28:24
presence. This contrast.
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In access is perhaps the most glorious evidence of the new
28:29
covenant superiority. I mean think back to the sheer
28:31
terror of Yom Kippur. Access to the Holy of Holies was
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severely limited. One person, one day a year under
28:38
strict life threatening protocols if the High Priest
28:40
entered slightly. Improperly, he was incinerated.
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That was the reality through the shedding.
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Of the blood of Jesus Christ. That ultimate restriction is
28:47
removed. Believers now have bold access
28:49
to God's presence everyday, rather than relying on an annual
28:52
ritual performed by a human intermediary who was himself
28:55
still sinful. The literal sign of this change?
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According to Matthew's Gospel, was that when Christ died, the
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curtain of the temple, which symbolized that massive,
29:04
dangerous separation between God and man, was torn from top to
29:07
bottom. Yes, the way in was opened.
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The physical barrier was. Obliterated because the
29:12
substitution was complete. And this fulfillment affects the
29:14
purity laws as well, because the physical barrier between clean
29:18
and unclean is no longer necessary, so the external
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ritual laws. Are no longer binding the
29:24
prohibition on pork or their requirement to separate from
29:26
skin diseases. Why are those gone?
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Because the goal of distinction. Has been fulfilled in a
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different way. The ritual laws created a social
29:34
barrier between Jew and Gentile. That barrier has ended in
29:38
Christ, where Jew and Gentile are now unified into one people
29:41
of God. The entire world is invited into
29:44
the relationship. The wall of ritual separation is
29:47
unnecessary because the ultimate source of separation, sin, has
29:50
been permanently addressed, so purity is internalized.
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Replacing the outward ritualization that is the
29:56
transformation. The external physical
29:58
requirements for cleanness are replaced by the call for
30:01
internal moral purity. Uncleanness now refers to sin in
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the spiritual sense, immorality, wickedness, lack of faith, and
30:09
believers are called to have a pure in heart and a clean
30:12
conscience. Christ's blood cleanses us from
30:15
the impurity of sin, achieving what the ritual washings could
30:18
only point toward and the change in the locus.
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Of God's dwelling dictates the change in the law precisely in.
30:24
Leviticus the purity laws protected the physical
30:27
Tabernacle from defilement. The laws were external because
30:30
the dwelling was external. Now God dwells in Christ, the
30:33
resurrected temple, and in believers who are constituted as
30:37
the temple of the Holy Spirit. The regulations for protecting a
30:40
physical building are replaced by the moral and ethical call
30:42
for purity with within the believer empowered by the spirit
30:45
who indwells us so the temporary scaffolding.
30:48
Allowed the workers to operate safely near the structure and it
30:51
outlined the final shape. Once the structure, which is
30:54
Christ was finished, the scaffolding came down.
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But the purpose to establish a holy dwelling place for God is
31:01
now realized permanently in Christ and in us.
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This deep dive into Leviticus completely reframes the book.
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We learned that it's fundamentally about God's
31:09
intense, dangerous holiness and his gracious provision for
31:13
fellowship, and the necessary infrastructure of the system
31:16
rested on substitution, and we confirmed that the.
31:19
Mechanism of atonement Kipper is rooted in the linguistic
31:21
certainty that it meant the satisfaction and appeasement of
31:24
God's righteous wrath. The entire system was temporary
31:27
scaffolding pointing directly toward the once for all superior
31:31
sacrifice of Christ, the movement from the Old Covenant.
31:34
To the new is a shift from a terrifying annual encounter
31:37
where one man risks death, to a secure, joyful daily fellowship
31:41
for all who are closing Christ's righteousness and considering
31:44
the extreme. Protocols required for the high
31:46
priest to survive just one annual encounter with God's
31:49
presence, including that death liability if he failed to follow
31:53
the instructions. Precisely what does it mean for
31:56
you that through Christ's accepted blood, you are invited
31:59
to boldly enter that same immediate presence every day
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with No Fear of judgement and with a clean conscience?
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What difference should that confidence and security make to
32:07
the way we pursue ethical holiness and live our lives
32:10
outside the tent of meeting? We'll leave you with that
32:13
provocative. Thought Thank you for joining us
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on this deep dive into reformed thinking.
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Until next time.