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Leviticus 16 To the ancient Jews, the day of atonement was referred to as "the great day" or sometimes just "the day".1 It was the day atonement was made for all the unintentional sins of the entire year. Though sacrifices were constantly being offered by the priest, this particular day was one of great anticipation and anxiousness. What if God doesn't accept the high priest's sacrifice? What if something in the process of sacrificing and offering isn't done exactly as God has commanded? What if as the priest is walking in the holy of holies he is struck down by God and the bells on his robe cease to jingle? What if this year we have to use the rope the high priest has tied to his ankle to remove his dead body out of the Holy of holies? In the many requirements the high priest must fulfill before making atonement for the sins of the people, we come face to face with the deadly consequences of any trace of sinfulness in the presence of the Almighty Holy God. Because of sin the only way for God to protect us from death is to have us move away. In Exodus 19:12 it says, "Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, `Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death." The perpetual theme is one of separation from God's presence. The tabernacle in the wilderness had degrees of separation from the presence of God above the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies. There was a veil that separated where God's presence resided in the Holy of holies as if to say, "Stay out upon penalty of death!" And you couldn't just enter the Holy of Holies whenever you wanted. Coming into God's presence your own way, without invitation and without proper provision is deadly dangerous. In Leviticus 10, Aaron's own sons offer unauthorized fire which was against what God's command. The result was fire coming out of God's presence and killing them. Leviticus 10 says, 1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said: “‘Among those who approach me I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’” Aaron remained silent.2 After the incident with Aaron's sons, God has Moses give a message to Aaron the priest about entering God's presence. Leviticus 16 says, The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. Skip forward to a Galilean hanging on a cross between two thieves. He claims to be the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world, however, the temple is not far away and the veil is still very much there barring access to God's presence. The veil still proclaims, "Do not enter under penalty of death!" You hear woman crying to your right and your left and finally the man on the cross utters, "It is finished" before breathing His last.3 According to Matthew 27:51 "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." That's right, the gigantic DO NOT ENTER sign that declared stay away under penalty of death was ripped up by God like an attorney ripping up a contract. The door to the very presence of God was swung wide open so that the author of Hebrews can tell us, "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."4 No longer are God's arms crossed and the door locked. His arms are wide open, welcoming you into His presence through faith in Jesus' finished atonement sacrifice on the cross. Dustin Largent is the Pastor of SonRise Bible Church in Atkinson, IL and the author of "The Christian Marriage Counseling Workbook" and “In Their Own Words: First Person Narratives from the Book of Genesis (Volume 1) 1. https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Lev/Lev-16.cfm 2. New International Version 3. John 19:30 (NIV) 4. Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) 5. Man photo created by cookie_studio - www.freepik.com

Leviticus 4 In the Bible, there is an old way of doing things and a new way. They are referred to in the Bible as covenants. As we continue to dive into the old ways of Leviticus, we come to chapter 4 and the sin offering. From the text, we will strive to answer 3 important questions. First, "How did they deal with sin in the days of Moses?" Second, "What was what they did supposed to accomplish?" And finally, the most important question for us to ask when dealing with and Old Testament passage, "What does this tell me about Jesus?" Leviticus 4 starts by saying, The Lord said to Moses,2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands— (Lev. 4:1-2 NIV) The chapter will explain how each of 4 types of people are to deal with unintentional sins. Those people are, the High Priest, the whole Israelite community, a leader, and any member of the community. What will likely strike you first, and perhaps with a moment of panic, is that the sins that can be taken care of here are all unintentional sins. That's right? There is no atonement for intentional sins. Now before you throw your hands up in desperation, recognizing that you have obviously purposefully, intentionally and premeditatively disobeyed God on multiple occasions let's clarify what an unintentional sin is. Guzik's commentary clarifies by saying "The idea is not so much of an accidental sin, but of a sin committed by a person who basically loves God. The contrast to an unintentional sin is to sin presumptuously (Numbers 15:30). Literally, this was "to sin with a high hand." There was no atonement available for the one whose heart was so defiantly turned against the LORD in presumptuous sin. If your heart wasn't turned towards the LORD, then all the animals in the world sacrificed on your behalf did you no good."1 Leviticus 5:17 defines unintentional sin this way, “If anyone sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though they do not know it, they are guilty and will be held responsible." According to Dr. Jeremy Pierre, scripture speaks of three characteristics of unintentional sin. They are (1) from ignorance of God’s will and therefore (2) not deliberately chosen as hostile acts against God, yet (3) they are disobedience nonetheless.2 So how did they deal with sin in the time of Moses? In each case, an animal had to be sacrificed and it's blood was shed. As the animal's life was taken a hand was placed on the animal identifying that person with the animal. In other words, "I deserve what is happening to this animal. This animal represents me." Then the blood would be taken and sprinkled in particular places. For the sins of the High Priest it was sprinkled on the veil in the tabernacle separating the holy place. It would also be put on the horns of the altar of incense. The rest of the bull's blood (that's alot of blood), was poured at the base of the altar for burnt offerings. What was what they did supposed to accomplish? First of all, this is all about life and death and blood because God was telling the truth when He told Adam, "you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Gen. 2:17 NIV). Our sin causes death, death is the removal of life, and blood is appropriate representation of sacrificial death. The veil to the holy place guards the holiness of God. Sin destroys our holiness, therefore, to gain access to the holy God, sacrificial blood has to be sprinkled on that veil of separation from God's holiness. In a sense, the blood on the door (veil) is a "Ok to enter" sign to God's holy presence. Then blood is put on the horns of the altar of incense because the ascending smoke and aroma represent the prayers of God's people. Unfortunately, sin negatively affects our prayer to God so sacrificial blood must be put on the altar of incense as well. Finally, sin has to be atoned for to make right what we've made wrong. For this reason, all the remaining blood of the bull is poured at the base of the altar where the burnt offerings for atonement were made. What does this tell me about Jesus? Jesus is a better offering than the offerings given to us by Moses, including this sin offering. Jesus accomplishes everything these sin offerings offer, however it does it completely. Like the veil separates us from the holy place of God, our sin keeps us from any closeness to God. Christ's death and shed blood didn't simply put a "ok, you can come in now" sign on the veil, but tore the veil completely down from top to bottom leaving an empty wall to freely enter into God's holy presence. Though sin cuts off the communication with God, our communication is fully restored by the shed blood of Jesus. And like atonement was made by the killing and offering of a sacrifice on the altar of the burnt offering, so Jesus willfully laid Himself on the cross as our atoning sacrifice. So how do I deal with sin today? Like in the Old Testament days, you must appropriate your sins to the ultimate sacrifice. Instead of placing your hand on the sacrificial animal to be sacrificed, identifying the animal as taking your place and being sacrificed on your behalf, you place your faith in Jesus. Your faith is like your hand on the sacrifice bearing witness that you willfully identify Jesus as your sacrificial substitute. Jesus was sacrificed for me, once for all, tearing the veil of separation, restoring communication and making me right with God for now and evermore. Dustin Largent is the Pastor of SonRise Bible Church in Atkinson, IL and the author of "The Christian Marriage Counseling Workbook" and “In Their Own Words: First Person Narratives from the Book of Genesis (Volume 1) Footnote 1- https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/archives/guzik_david/StudyGuide_Lev/Lev_4.cfm Footnote 2- https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/involuntary-sins/

Leviticus 2 When you and I want to say thank you to someone we may send them a card or flowers or make some other gesture. Instead of just speaking words, we spend a little time, spend a little money and exert a little energy because words aren't enough. The true thankfulness within us compels us to express our thanks in a way that allows the other person to see and experience our thankfulness. In the old covenant, thankfulness was expressed to God through a grain offering. It's better than a Hallmark card as a homemade card from your child is better than a store bought one. It's an expression of who you truly are. You're giving something of yourself. Leviticus 2:1-3 tells us: “‘When anyone brings a grain offering to the Lord, their offering is to be of the finest flour. They are to pour olive oil on it, put incense on it2 and take it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.3 The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings presented to the Lord. To express thanks to God they would head to the kitchen. They'd take the finest flour and pour some pure olive oil on it. Then they'd put incense on it and take it to Aaron's sons; the priests. They would burn some of it on the altar and God would be pleased with the aroma. Then the priests were allowed to keep the remainder for their own use. As you read further, we find that you could also bake the offering, cook it on a griddle or even in a covered pan which would be more like deep frying a donut. Mmmm. I can almost smell the pleasing aroma now. Me likes me some funnel-cake! David Guzik writes, "This expression of devotion to God began at home and if offered with the right heart, it was a sweet aroma to the LORD."(footnote 1). Where does your heart for God begin? Where is it cultivated, fostered and prepared? In a very counter-religious way, it is not prepared in the church. It's prepared in the kitchen; the center of your home. Though it is brought to church and presented to God, the selecting of the finest flour is done at home. The heating of the oven is done at home. The tender care to get it right and pleasing to God all happens at home. It's where your life of thankfulness to God is prepared even today. It's were you live every day. It's the central place of the majority of your life and our expression of thankfulness to God starts there. They would also say thank you to God by bringing the firstfruits; their first and best to God. Firstfruits are risky business. They were then and they are now. To express thanks to God you would give the first from your harvest and the first of your livestock to God. Why is that risky? What if the rest of the crop doesn't come in? What if your baby livestock die? What if there's a drought? What if I don't have enough reserves because I gave the first to God not knowing if the rest will come in? Maybe for you the questions go a bit more like, What if I lose my job? What if the washing machine breaks down? What if I don't save enough for retirement? What if I don't have enough in reserves? But are these really the questions you and the Jews of old are asking or is there a deeper question behind the What ifs? Might the real question your asking be, "Can I trust God when What if happens?"? Perhaps the more damning question is, "Have we ever really surrendered our past, present and future to Him at all? __________________________________________________________________________ Dustin Largent is the Pastor of SonRise Bible Church in Atkinson, IL and the author of "The Christian Marriage Counseling Workbook" and “In Their Own Words: First Person Narratives from the Book of Genesis (Volume 1) Footnote 1- https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Lev/Lev-2.cfm

Leviticus Chapter 1 Because I'm teaching a sermon series on the book of Hebrews, I've been digging into the book of Leviticus from which Hebrews gets much of its foundation. I know many believe Leviticus to be legalistic boredom at its finest, however, I find relevance in it's invitation for real people to please God. Pleasing God sounds like something I want to do! How about you? Leviticus is full of priests and tabernacles and sacrifices and starts off with a series of offerings the Hebrew people were to offer to God. The first is found in Leviticus chapter 1 and it is called a Burnt Offering. It's called that because the entire offering is burned away as verse 9 says, ". . . It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD." The offering can be one of three things. It can be from your herd such as a bull. It can be from your flock such as a sheep or a lamb, or it can be a young dove or pigeon if you're financially strapped. What is it that makes this a pleasing aroma to the Lord? Is it just that God loves the smell of good barbeque like you and I, or is there something deeper going on here? There are a few particulars about how this burnt offering is to be made that should grab your attention. First, it has to be a male. That's probably because the males were considered to be more valuable. This offering is about our heart and what we are willing to give to God. Are we giving that with the most valuable or the leftovers? It also says that "You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you."(vs. 4). By laying your hand on the animal to be slaughtered, you are identifying yourself with the animal. It's taking my place. Then the person who had their hands on the animal would slit the animals throat. The priest may help you, but you as an individual have to sacrifice that animal. You have to take its life because its life is in exchange for yours. Each of us has to make a decision for Christ and no one can do it for us. After that, the priests would take the blood from the animal and splash it on the altar. The animal would then be cut into pieces, however, before the pieces were put on the fire, the organs and the legs would be washed. I believe that's because that's were the excrement would be; in the organs or on the legs after being excreted. We don't want that nasty stuff to be a part of an offering we are offering to the Most High God! Then the priests take the pieces and arrange it on a fire on the altar to be completely consumed by the fire and it makes a pleasing aroma to the Lord. So what does this teach us about pleasing God? I mean, that's what you desire, right? What is it that you offer to God and how does it compare to what God finds pleasing according to Leviticus 1? First of all, the offering came from your own livestock. It wasn't some random wild animal that wasn't yours. Our offerings to the Lord cost us something. They belong to us and we give them to God. Does your offering or ministry to God cost you anything? Is it just roadkill? Is it the leftovers? If so, is that offering or ministry really pleasing to God? Second, the offering was given of our own free will. We weren't coerced or forced into making this gesture. Are you ministering, giving, loving, serving or obeying God freely or do you truly feel forced or coerced. Thirdly, the offering is consumed completely. It all belongs to God. Again, we don't give God the bad parts to be burned while we enjoy a delicious brisket. This is a true sacrifice that is all for God. Is your ministry, giving, loving, serving or obeying all for God or is it partly for you? For your pride? For your reputation? For your gain? Finally, we find that there are different options for offering depending on whether you are well off or poor. If you have the financial means to offer a bull, then you should offer a bull. If you can offer a lamb, then offer a lamb and that will be pleasing to God. But if you are strapped and can only offer a dove or pigeon, God is just as pleased with the aroma from that offering as He is with the bull, because the offering is about the heart of the giver and not the size of the offering. But what if you have the means to offer a bull but bring to God a pigeon instead? Will God be equally pleased with the smell of that offering? I think you know that answer is no, because the offering reflects your heart. Are you giving God your first and best? Is your ministry, giving , loving, serving or obeying simply chump change from your life, or is it something of great value and cost? If so, it is a pleasing aroma to the Lord. *References - Guzik - Blue Letter Bible; NIV Bible

Though I hate to say it, appearances matter when you are the leader of a church. When I was a single pastor I had to be pretty careful what I did or said, lest someone see or hear and have their faith affected. I can recall one time saying something from the pulpit that an older lady didn’t like and being slapped across the face within a few minutes of coming down from the stage. Appearances matter. I can only imagine what would have happened if I would have invited a young lady to church who was wearing too much lipstick, high heals, and showing enough cleavage to distract every Y chromosome in the place. And then when the elders call me into a meeting to explain to me that woman I brought to church was a prostitute, my defenses flare. I first explain that God has told me to marry her and the ask how they happen to know so much about a woman of the night. But this is what God does with Hosea the Prophet. God tells him to marry a prostitute and he does it. Luckily for Hosea, there was no church elder board or congregation to vote him out of a job. God was his boss and he was serious about his job. Hosea must have figured he could love Gomer the prostitute so much that she would give up here whoring ways, but he who loves least is always the loser in a relationship. He lavished flowers and kisses upon her and publicly showed his affection by holding her hand in public. She still liked to wear too much lipstick and people still got an eyeful as she bounced past but all that would change; or at least he thought. It was only a few months after they got married that he came home to see clothes tossed about the floor. His heart sank and his heart raced as he slowing creeped the door open to find his wife and a strange man dressing. His plan to love her into faithfulness was failing and there was nothing he could do about it. That night they raised their voices. He blamed her and she blamed him. She loved least but he demanded change she had no intention of giving. She packed a small bag and headed out the door. It was raining so he followed her from a distance in his car. She went to a house on the other side of town. She returned to a past he had tried to pull her from but the bond was too great. I am such a Gomer. Loved by God yet finding it so difficult to convert the energy of His unfailing love to the obedient change it is designed to create. Like Gomer, I see a husband demanding a life I am not accustomed to living. Holiness is a stranger and I was taught not to talk to strangers. He demands that she quit her whoring and be the faithful wife she committed to be; she sees the seriousness in his eyes. Perhaps it would be better for everyone if I simply left, for I know I could never satisfy by beloved’s desires. To try and fail over an over would only stretch his patience with me. I am such a Gomer. To love You is to know that I will break your heart. To love you is to stay with you, knowing that I love least. If I stay, will you still speak tenderly to me when I fail you? I didn’t say, “if” but “when”. I promise to come back when I stray. Loving you has taken time for you are not like all the others. I know how to love them. I know how to get what I want from them. But you are different. I have never met anyone like you. I have never experienced this kind of love and it scares me. It possesses its object and binds what it frees. Why do you love me Hosea? Why do you love me God? For I am such a Gomer. Dustin Largent is the Pastor of SonRise Bible Church in Atkinson, IL and the author of "The Christian Marriage Counseling Workbook" and “In Their Own Words: First Person Narratives from the Book of Genesis (Volume 1)

Philippians 4:19“ And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”- ESV.  We know that God cares about us enough to give up heaven to come to earth and die upon a cross for us. This act of love fulfills our greatest need; reconciliation with God. But that is simply God supplying a single need.. In the day to day grind of life where we get up and go to work and struggle to make enough money to provide for the needs of our families, we can quickly forget the third word of this verse. Rising health insurance costs, rising rents, increased taxes, additional expenses, higher car tab fees; and the list goes on, all making it harder to provide. But we forgot the third word of the verse. The third word of the verse is, “God”. It says that “my God will supply every need of yours. . .” In other words, according to God’s word, we are not the ones responsible for providing for our needs. God is. It reminds me of my seven year old son, Cooper. He decided to start his own business where he takes care of people’s pets when they are gone on vacation. He is able to make a little bit of money doing that, but he can’t provide for himself. In his world, that is his father’s job. And because I make more money than my seven year old son, he thinks I am rich. It would be unwise and foolish for him to decide he is going to provide for himself at his current age and with his current skills. We too are to recognize that even though we are adults, we are not our own provider. We can not guarantee we will have a job tomorrow. We do not have control of the universe. We do not hold the future in our hands. Our skills are nothing without the provision of a loving God who uses them on our behalf. In fact, it would be unwise and foolish for us to decide that we can provide for ourselves with the knowledge that providing for us is a God sized job.  We just aren’t qualified. Best of all, though our qualifications to provide are small according to our weakness and incompetence to the task, God provides for us, “according to his riches in glory in Jesus Christ.” So why don’t we rest in the provision of our Father who has riches to spare instead of worrying and grinding to provide for ourselves. The answer is obviously pride. Being able to say to ourselves that we didn’t need any help makes us feel big and great and competent and . . . well. . . like God. Only God is self sufficient. Only God can truly provide. Only God has the world in His hands and can pull the strings to make things work out according to His plan. To have peace in this area, we need to recognize God’s role as our provider and learn to not usurp that position in our heart. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” Colossians 3:23 (NIV)  We work for the Lord to fulfill the purpose that He has given to our lives. It is God who provides for our needs. Dustin Largent is the Pastor of SonRise Bible Church in Atkinson, IL and the author of "The Christian Marriage Counseling Workbook" and “In Their Own Words: First Person Narratives from the Book of Genesis (Volume 1)