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Sacrifice and Holiness – Leviticus 4
Sacrifice and Holiness – Leviticus 4
As we read through Leviticus, it is easy to get lost in the details! If we step back and look at the overall arrangement of the book, we see some other lessons. In particular we see that sacrifice and restoration of a right relationship with God comes before the holy living. ?
A simple outline of Leviticus shows the 1)law of sacrifices (1-10), and 2) the law of holy living (11-27). They were first reconciled to God through atoning sacrifice, and then instructed on being holy in that relationship. Such is the great problem of SIN - it does separate one from God and it DOES require forgiveness and atonement, even for unintentional sins (Lev. 4 – the sin offering).
Such holiness in life is demanded, not arbitrarily, but on the very nature of God who is holy. If we are to walk in fellowship with God, we must walk in the same holiness that He is. Hence, four times Israel was instructed: "be holy for I am holy":
"‘For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth." (Leviticus 11:44).
"“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." (Leviticus 19:2).
"‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine." (Leviticus 20:26).
"‘You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy." (Leviticus 21:8).
All such covenant demands of holiness were founded on the basic fact that "I am the LORD": "‘You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 20:7). We see this attached to precept after precept. This emphasis, 'I am the LORD', is declared 49 times! (see the list at the end of the article). I like to highlight such phrases in my Bible so that I get the visual effect of its repetition. Highlighting will make this concept jump off the page.
As we get to the New Testament, Peter quotes and applies this same concept to God's people today in 1 Pet. 1:13-16. Like Leviticus, Peter affirms that this requirement comes to those who have been redeemed with the precious blood of the sacrifice - the sacrifice of Jesus as the unblemished and spotless lamb of God (vs. 18-19). Having been redeemed, let us "Pursue… holiness, for without it no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). Having been washed and sanctified (1Cor. 6:9-11), let us 'come out from among them and be holy' (2 Cor. 6:17 – 7:1).
Even as physical Israel was to be holy unto the Lord, so we are to be a HOLY nation of godly people unto our God (1Pet. 2:5, 9).
Hugh DeLong
I am the LORD references: Lev. 11:44, 45, 18:2, 4, 5, 6, 21, 30; 19:3, 4, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 25, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 20:7, 8, 24; 21:12, 15, 23; 22:2, 3, 8, 9, 16, 30, 31, 32, 33; 23:22, 43; 24:22; 25:17, 38, 55; 26:1, 2, 13, 44, 45.
