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On contradictions and sacrifices…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 4:22-23 “ ‘When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the Lord his God, when he realizes his guilt and the sin he has committed becomes known, he must bring as his offering a male goat without defect. 

As I was reading today’s verses, two additional verses of scripture came to mind. The first is Matt 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The second is Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God….”

Leviticus 4:24 He is to lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord. It is a sin offering. 

Those two verses seem to contradict each other and perhaps lay the groundwork for all this bloody sacrifice in Leviticus–We as humans cannot be perfect. It’s impossible. So we have to atone for our sins to try to wipe the slate clean. Jesus’s sacrifice was a permanent wiping of the slate.

Leviticus 4:25 Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the verses You have laid on my heart this morning. Thank You for sitting with me and inviting me to ponder Your word in ways I haven’t before. Help me to understand and draw closer to You with every breath. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 4:26 He shall burn all the fat on the altar as he burned the fat of the fellowship offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the leader’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

Have a blessed day. 

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Unintentional sin…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 4:18 He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 

Twice already in this chapter the author has mentioned sinning unintentionally. And commentary mentions “sins, negligences, and ignorances,” which makes a lot of sense. Sin isn’t only those willful acts of disobedience. 

Leviticus 4:19 He shall remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar, 

I’m absolutely certain that all of us have sinned due to negligence (things we neglected to do) and due to ignorance (things we just didn’t have any clue we were doing or information we were ignorant of and therefore we sinned).

Leviticus 4:20 and do with this bull just as he did with the bull for the sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the community, and they will be forgiven. 

Precious Savior, Once again I see that it is so very easy to judge and so very easy to sin, and since I am so susceptible to the latter, I need to refrain from the former. Help me to hold tight to Matthew 7:1 (Judge not, lest ye be judged) and Mark 12:30-31 (30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 … ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’…”). Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 4:21 Then he shall take the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull. This is the sin offering for the community.

Have a blessed day. 

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Asking once again for forgiveness…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 4:13-14 “ ‘If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, when they realize their guilt and the sin they committed becomes known, the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the tent of meeting. 

Sometimes I reread the previous day’s reflection and shake my head, wondering what I was thinking. Yesterday’s was one such reflection, when I came across this gem, “…the sin offering was solely and specifically to atone for sin and not for any personal gain.”

Leviticus 4:15 The elders of the community are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord. 

Being forgiven of our sins is absolutely about personal gain, about gaining the ability to be free from the shackles of yesterday’s  mistakes, about gaining the ability to be forgiven for every single mistake and misstep. What I meant yesterday was that the one bringing the sin offering couldn’t partake of the meat or leather, but the absurdity of the wording just struck me today.

Leviticus 4:16 Then the anointed priest is to take some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the personal gain that comes to me when I come to You with my sin and shame, my mistakes and missteps, asking You, once again, to forgive me, to wash me clean, to “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Ps 51:12). Forgive me and help me to forgive myself. Amen.

Leviticus 4:17 He shall dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it before the Lord seven times in front of the curtain.

Have a blessed day. 

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Not for selfish gain…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 4:8 He shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—all the fat that is connected to the internal organs, 

Commentary says of this section, “All selfish motives had to be removed in the sin offering.” The one bringing the sin offering could not partake of the sacrifice in any capacity, driving home the point that the sin offering was solely and specifically to atone for sin and not for any personal gain. 

Leviticus 4:9 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys— 

That philosophy makes perfect sense. How often do we see people acting out of the hope for selfish gain. God wants our whole hearts (Jeremiah 29:13: “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”) He doesn’t want seconds or selfish motives.

Leviticus 4:10 just as the fat is removed from the ox sacrificed as a fellowship offering. Then the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. 

Precious Savior, Forgive me when I come to You with motives that are less than pure. Help me to desire a closer relationship with You not for personal gain but only so that I can know You better and praise You more. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 4:11-12 But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, as well as the head and legs, the internal organs and the intestines—that is, all the rest of the bull—he must take outside the camp to a place ceremonially clean, where the ashes are thrown, and burn it there in a wood fire on the ash heap.

Have a blessed day. 

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The greatest of these…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 4:5 Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and carry it into the tent of meeting. 

In my church devotional reflections, I am currently contemplating 1 Cor 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” And, honestly, I’ve been wondering why love was “the greatest of these”. My faith and the hope I have in God have gotten me through some really difficult situations. 

Leviticus 4:6 He is to dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord, in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. 

But as I ponder how the Pharisees and Sadducees took rule following to a dangerous level, defaulting to love as “the greatest of these” makes a lot more sense. If my options are to follow the letter of the law or show love for my fellow human being, God says “the greatest of these is love.”

Leviticus 4:7a The priest shall then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the reminder that love is what You are all about, that rules and laws and observances are important, but preserving human dignity and loving each other is the most important thing. Help me to always remember that, and help me to love others as You love me–fiercely, completely, unconditionally, faults and all. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 4:7b The rest of the bull’s blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Have a blessed day. 

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The ancestral memory of worship…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 4:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands—

Leviticus is a book full of rules/laws because the Israelites had been in captivity in Egypt for 400 years, so everyone who understood what it meant to worship God was long gone by the time their captivity ended. 

Leviticus 4:3 “ ‘If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the Lord a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. 

This exhaustive list of rules and laws was needed because the ancestral memory of worship was no longer present. They had to learn how to follow God again after 400 years of life with Egyptian gods and practices.

Leviticus 4:4a He is to present the bull at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the reminder that this book has a very specific place in the history of Your church. When I struggle and wonder why in the world we are still “plowing this ground,” help me to see the larger purpose. Draw me closer to You. Amen.

Leviticus 4:4b He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it there before the Lord.

Have a blessed day. 

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On stinky attitudes and pleasing aromas…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 3:14 From what you offer you are to present this food offering to the Lord: the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, 

The phrase “a pleasing aroma” to God (or similar) is mentioned 42 times in the Old Testament, according to Google, roughly 36 of those times in the book of Leviticus. When I came across the phrase in v16 this morning, it brought back memories of when my boys were younger.

Leviticus 3:15 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys. 

When they were having a tough day, or when I was having a tough day, we would talk about our “stinky attitude” and how tough that was for us and all around us and how sometimes, we just needed some time to move past the stinky attitude so that we could be more pleasant to be around. 

Leviticus 3:16 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the Lord’s.

Precious Savior, Thank You for memories that brought a smile this morning and for the reminder that when I have a “stinky attitude,” it is tough for everyone who is near. Help me, when my attitude is stinky, to move past it so that all involved can breathe easier. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 3:17 “ ‘This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.’ ”

Have a blessed day. 

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A fellowship offering…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 3:9 From the fellowship offering you are to bring a food offering to the Lord: its fat, the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, 

From what I can gather, this “fellowship offering” (v9) is the meal created by the sacrificial offerings in these verses. The “food offering,” what was burned on the altar for God, was His portion of that meal.

Leviticus 3:10 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys. 

I don’t remember ever hearing that before. After the bloody business of sacrifice, there was a fellowship meal….with God. All the blood aside, that is a pretty striking image–repentence and sacrifice and then a fellowship meal with God to foster relationship.

Leviticus 3:11 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering presented to the Lord.

Precious Savior, Thank You for allowing me to see this image this morning, an image I have never zeroed in on before. Thank You that Your mercies are still new every morning (Lamentations 3:23), even now. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 3:12-13 “ ‘If your offering is a goat, you are to present it before the Lord, lay your hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar.

Have a blessed day. 

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Being specific and intentional…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 3:5 Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is lying on the burning wood; it is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

I firmly believe that “the word of God is alive and active….” (Heb 4:12) and that there is not a direct translation from then to now, so I’m left pondering how this scripture applies to me. 

Leviticus 3:6 “ ‘If you offer an animal from the flock as a fellowship offering to the Lord, you are to offer a male or female without defect. 

I don’t think God wants me to lay hands on an animal and slaughter it on the steps of His tent of meeting, in order to show my repentance, so what is He calling me to do?

Leviticus 3:7-8a If you offer a lamb, you are to present it before the Lord, lay your hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. 

Precious Savior, I think You are calling me to be specific and intentional when I bring my heart to You. Help me to draw closer to Your heart as I study and pray each morning. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 3:8b Then Aaron’s sons shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar.

Have a blessed day.

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Thankful…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 3:1 “ ‘If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the Lord an animal without defect. 

Once again these chapters in Leviticus make me thankful that the bloody business of repentance is not what it once was.

Leviticus 3:2 You are to lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash the blood against the sides of the altar. 

But the graphic nature of the blood and sacrifice brings into sharp focus the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice for my sins.

Leviticus 3:3 From the fellowship offering you are to bring a food offering to the Lord: the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, 

Precious Savior, Thank You doesn’t seem to touch my gratitude for Your sacrifice. I don’t understand it. I could never deserve it, but I am eternally grateful for You. Amen.

Leviticus 3:4 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys.

Have a blessed day.