back to indexWed Bible Study - Leviticus Lesson 4
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All right, we're in Leviticus chapter 2, and the homework was for 2 and 3, but I told you 00:00:11.000 |
I wasn't sure if I was going to go at that pace. 00:00:14.560 |
You know, I, again, for this week we're just going to be covering the law for the grain 00:00:22.080 |
offering and the next week is going to be the law for the peace offering. 00:00:25.000 |
So each one of these things have so much significance and I felt like covering 2 and 3 would be 00:00:30.400 |
too much and I'm going to have to cram and just kind of speed through these things. 00:00:33.880 |
And even if it is less material, I think it's better for us to slow down, especially in 00:00:39.480 |
this area, because the first five offerings are so foundational to our understanding of 00:00:44.920 |
the gospel and everything that takes place in the New Testament. 00:00:48.080 |
So if you have a superficial understanding of this, you're kind of missing the foundation. 00:00:54.200 |
So this week is going to be the grain offering, next week we're going to be going into the 00:00:59.300 |
And as you are reading this, there's chunks of it in chapter 6 and chapter 7. 00:01:03.840 |
It goes into a little bit more detail and instruction. 00:01:07.400 |
So the main part of the teaching on the grain offering obviously is in chapter 2, but also 00:01:12.160 |
there is a small portion, maybe a few verses in chapter 6, and then when you get to the 00:01:18.240 |
peace offering in chapter 3, chapter 7, I think verse 11 through 21, I apologize, I 00:01:25.520 |
should have put it on here, but it's not on here, but there's a small portion. 00:01:29.280 |
If you flip through your Bible to chapter 7, you'll be able to see it in there. 00:01:33.040 |
And so there's some, a little bit more instructions on the peace offering in chapter 7. 00:01:39.600 |
So I encourage you guys to take a look at that. 00:01:42.180 |
And then when we get there to chapter 6 and 7, we're not going to spend this kind of time 00:01:45.440 |
on it, okay, because this is all kind of integrated, even if I don't specifically mention chapter 00:01:50.800 |
7, we are going to be in a few of the verses in chapter 7, okay? 00:01:57.280 |
So let me pray for us and then we'll jump right in. 00:01:59.200 |
Heavenly Father, we want to thank you so much for this evening. 00:02:05.260 |
We thank you, Lord God, for your living word. 00:02:08.120 |
And we know, Father God, that we have such great access to it, to be able to study it 00:02:14.780 |
in English, to have the resources and so much of it, Lord, around us. 00:02:21.120 |
I'm not realizing what a blessing, a true blessing this is, Lord God, to be able to 00:02:26.120 |
interact with you, to know your heart, your will, to be able to study commentaries and 00:02:34.840 |
scholars, Lord God, who have in-depth understanding of all of these things, Lord. 00:02:40.340 |
Help us not to take any of these things for granted. 00:02:44.120 |
Help us as we study this book that you will give us a clear understanding of who you are 00:02:48.320 |
and what you have done and why it was so important for the nation of Israel to take so much time 00:02:58.640 |
And we know that every part of these things, Lord God, was with a purpose. 00:03:03.340 |
Help us to understand as much as possible so that we may have greater insight into Christ 00:03:09.680 |
And so we pray for your blessing and your Holy Spirit, eagerness in our heart to learn 00:03:15.240 |
and to apply all of these things in our lives. 00:03:19.880 |
All right, so let's look at the grain offering. 00:03:22.780 |
The first thing that we want to look at is the meaning of the grain offering. 00:03:26.720 |
Again, there's not a lot of details where it says this is the purpose and this is the 00:03:31.440 |
reason why people can get so easily lost in the book of Leviticus, because you really 00:03:39.840 |
If you just read it like you're reading a Bible plan and you read three chapters of 00:03:43.240 |
Leviticus, obviously, you know, these are not things that you're going to actually apply, 00:03:48.440 |
But Leviticus was never meant to be read that way. 00:03:52.380 |
So even if you were the first recipients of this letter, this is not something that you 00:03:58.480 |
just read in three chapters in one, because basically it's a law book of what you ought 00:04:04.360 |
You don't just read law books, you don't skim through it, because there might be a 00:04:07.580 |
particular word or a phrase that if you don't understand it, you may get into trouble, because 00:04:15.580 |
So every single thing that it says, so if you've ever read a contract or entered into 00:04:21.580 |
any kind of agreement or sold a house or anything, you know that those little things that are 00:04:28.460 |
in there are absolutely important, and the more important it is, you know, they had dozens 00:04:35.700 |
of lawyers comb through how they phrase something and the words that they use, because it has 00:04:42.460 |
Well, the book of Leviticus was written with that kind of mindset, that when he said not 00:04:48.860 |
to touch something, and only these people are to touch something, and this is how you 00:04:53.280 |
consecrate something, you have to follow it to the letter of the law, right? 00:04:59.020 |
And then the first application we see later on in Leviticus chapter 10, God told them 00:05:03.540 |
not to put up anything strange, and then the first two priests who put up something basically 00:05:08.640 |
ignored certain aspects of the law, and as a result of that, what happens to them? 00:05:13.020 |
They get consumed, because they didn't take God's law seriously. 00:05:17.460 |
So Leviticus was never meant to be something that you just kind of skim through, you know, 00:05:21.660 |
you can't just read this kind of like get a broad understanding, you really have to 00:05:33.300 |
Because that's exactly how God intended for them to apply it, every letter of the law. 00:05:37.980 |
If God told only this tribe to touch the poles, anybody else touch the poles, they die. 00:05:43.700 |
If God said that your tribe is on the east side and you started camping on the left side, 00:05:51.380 |
And so again, as we study it, we want to do our best to comb through some of the stuff 00:05:57.700 |
that we can understand, some of the stuff we don't understand, but just because we don't 00:06:03.940 |
You might not understand it this time, you may understand it next time you come around 00:06:10.380 |
So we're going to do our best to dive into the significance of this thing, the meaning 00:06:17.640 |
The word in itself, again, it doesn't say here, this is the meaning itself, but the 00:06:22.240 |
word itself for grain offering is "mina," or "mina" if you want to pronounce it. 00:06:30.620 |
The word "mina," it's used kind of generically. 00:06:35.640 |
It doesn't specifically refer to the grain offering, but it also refers to both the animal 00:06:43.320 |
So early on in the book of Genesis, where we see the story of Cain and Abel, both of 00:06:48.320 |
their offerings are called "mina," or "mina" is probably the correct way to say it. 00:06:54.820 |
So generally speaking, it means, again, it's referring to a particular type of sacrifice, 00:07:01.880 |
but the word in and of itself, it means tribute. 00:07:05.600 |
Again, all of these things are going to help us to understand the meaning behind this particular 00:07:12.080 |
It was the money paid by a vassal king to his overlord as a mark of his continuing goodwill 00:07:20.500 |
And so the term "mina" would have been understood as a form of tribute given to the Lord as 00:07:28.560 |
So again, it doesn't say that this is the reason why you need to give it to us, but 00:07:32.680 |
the word in and of itself is used that way in other parts of the scripture where someone 00:07:37.040 |
who is subordinate is offering tribute and it's kind of a relationship between somebody 00:07:46.520 |
And again, it is often used as if one king, let's say it's the king of Syria conquers 00:07:53.000 |
other nations, the nation that was conquered has to pay tribute, and so their tribute basically 00:08:00.320 |
is a sign of submission to whatever kingdom that rules over them. 00:08:07.160 |
So that is the literal meaning of the word, and as we go through it, we're going to see 00:08:13.000 |
that the overall meaning of this is very related to this. 00:08:19.280 |
We see that in Deuteronomy 26, 9-10, again a portion of it, "And he brought us into this 00:08:23.900 |
place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 00:08:27.000 |
And behold, now I bring the first fruit of the ground which you, O Lord, have given me, 00:08:30.920 |
and you shall set it down before the Lord, Lord your God, and worship you before the 00:08:35.060 |
Okay, so this is not directly related to what I said, but again, this is an act of giving 00:08:44.360 |
And so when we think of giving tribute to God, like a lower kingdom to a higher kingdom, 00:08:50.640 |
say again to Egypt or whoever conquered, we think of a context where we're forcefully 00:09:01.120 |
But again, even though the word itself is referring to tribute, the idea in this particular 00:09:06.900 |
offering is more of a dedication, a voluntary dedication. 00:09:13.340 |
So the grain offering was an act of dedication and consecration to God, acknowledging Him 00:09:24.200 |
So it expressed not only thankfulness, but obedience and willingness to keep the law. 00:09:28.640 |
So by offering this sacrifice, it was an act of acknowledging His Lordship over their lives. 00:09:38.200 |
So this is the offering that is the closest related to, sorry, the burnt offering brought 00:09:45.400 |
peace with the Lord, Lord God, and the grain offering was a sign of thankfulness and dedication 00:09:52.880 |
Those two offerings, the burnt offering and the grain offering, almost always was sacrificed 00:09:59.080 |
So remember last time we were here, we talked about how the burnt offering was giving morning 00:10:06.340 |
Every single day that the lamb, the bull, they were all slaughtered in the morning and 00:10:13.560 |
And in the burnt offering, what did they burn? 00:10:17.840 |
Here's another word for burnt offering, whole offering, and what did it signify? 00:10:25.120 |
What is the overall meaning of the burnt offering? 00:10:34.360 |
So that was the most important of all the sacrifices, and that sacrifice had to be made 00:10:40.400 |
on a daily basis, and it signified that they could not be in the presence of a holy God 00:10:49.320 |
And so they needed to do this over and over again. 00:10:51.040 |
So when the author of Hebrews says that the sacrifice in the Old Testament were only a 00:10:57.800 |
shadow of the things to come, and that these sacrifices in and of itself did not have any 00:11:02.360 |
power, and so they needed to do it over and over and over and over again, where Christ 00:11:08.720 |
So the burnt offering, the other name of the burnt offering is whole offering, because 00:11:16.160 |
It wasn't just a portion, that all of the animal, every part of it, they weren't allowed 00:11:21.560 |
So that burnt offering is first sacrificed, and then the grain offering is sacrificed 00:11:28.700 |
So in the morning, they would begin with a burnt offering, and then a grain offering. 00:11:32.400 |
And then evening, they would do the same, burnt offering, and then a grain offering, 00:11:39.000 |
What is the significance of these two offerings together being sacrificed? 00:11:47.960 |
What are the terms that we use that seems to point to these two sacrifices? 00:11:59.360 |
So if you call the burnt offering – somebody say sandwich? 00:12:21.280 |
There is another offering called the sin offering. 00:12:23.800 |
No, no, I'm talking about in relation to our salvation, the very first thing that happens 00:12:36.480 |
Reconciliation is also true, but the word I was looking for is justification, right? 00:12:43.440 |
So if our salvation begins with justification, what comes immediately, simultaneously with 00:13:04.120 |
So if the burnt offering pointed to justification, the grain offering pointed to sanctification 00:13:10.360 |
because the grain offering was an act of dedication, of lordship, right? 00:13:18.560 |
So remember in Romans chapter 12, it says in view of God's mercy. 00:13:29.540 |
In view of atonement for our sins, what does he say? 00:13:34.800 |
So that living sacrifice is an ongoing sacrifice of dedication to God, to serve him. 00:13:44.800 |
And so this offering points to sanctification, an ongoing, repeated act of sanctification. 00:13:52.160 |
So again, it doesn't spell this out, but if we were to look at the details of it today, 00:14:02.520 |
And this is the offering that closely is connected to tithe, giving to the Lord to support the 00:14:09.940 |
So what was giving in sanctification, okay, the second offering, grain offering, a portion 00:14:16.180 |
of it is offered and the rest of it is to be used by the Levites, right? 00:14:20.420 |
The priests were to take that, and again, the offer cannot eat it. 00:14:25.660 |
They would take a portion of it and the rest of it was to support the temple work, right? 00:14:30.140 |
And so the idea of tithing comes from this particular offering, the offering of the first 00:14:37.540 |
Again, let me give you a few passages that highlight this. 00:14:45.620 |
Deuteronomy 12, five through six, "But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God 00:14:49.380 |
will choose out of your tribes to put his name and make a habitation there. 00:14:53.020 |
There you shall go and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, 00:14:57.380 |
your tithes and contributions that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, 00:15:01.580 |
and the firstborn of your herd of your flock." 00:15:03.940 |
Okay, so this is in reference to this particular offering. 00:15:07.100 |
And then Proverbs 3, nine through ten, "Honor the Lord with your wealth and the first fruits 00:15:12.180 |
Then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine." 00:15:16.420 |
So when it's talking about first fruits of all your produce, it's referring to this particular 00:15:26.700 |
When we talk about giving and sacrificing and offering in the New Testament, the foundation 00:15:39.700 |
So the grain offering, this is the only offering that does not require an animal sacrifice 00:15:43.660 |
because the offering does not atone for your sins. 00:15:47.860 |
Every other offering, the burnt offering, the peace offering, the guilt offering, the 00:15:51.620 |
confession offering, every single one of them are given to atone for a particular sin. 00:15:57.420 |
The meaning behind these things, again, we're going to find out as we study it, but this 00:16:00.780 |
particular offering is the only offering out of the five that does not require animal sacrifice 00:16:13.900 |
Again, as I mentioned already, that this offering is always, almost always, coupled with the 00:16:23.540 |
And the reason why is because you cannot have sanctification before justification. 00:16:31.180 |
What is somebody who isn't justified, who is working hard to be a good person, what 00:16:42.780 |
Your moral person, your kind person, you're giving, you're a gracious person, but you're 00:16:55.180 |
That's why every time before a dedication was made, there had to be a burnt offering 00:17:02.540 |
That's why Romans chapter 12, 1 wouldn't make any sense without chapter 1 through 11. 00:17:06.780 |
It says, "In view of this mercy, now give your life as a sacrifice." 00:17:11.340 |
So you tell non-Christian, somebody who maybe sometimes even grown up in the church and 00:17:18.580 |
is jumping through hoops and doing all these things, but his sins have never been justified, 00:17:30.380 |
And there's so much warning in the scriptures for cultural Christianity because it is so 00:17:39.100 |
deceptive, because it is so deceptive because on the surface it looks the same. 00:17:46.500 |
I mean, think about the Pharisees who actually even evangelized, memorized scripture, gave 00:17:55.260 |
They did all of these things and yet they weren't justified. 00:18:00.280 |
And so these two offerings go hand in hand because sanctification and discipleship and 00:18:06.380 |
dedication and sacrifice, none of it means anything unless there's true justification. 00:18:17.740 |
Unlike the burnt offerings, only a handful of sacrifice was offered while the rest was 00:18:24.980 |
So again, the whole offering was complete dedication, right? 00:18:33.860 |
Burnt offering that you typically follow the burnt offering, only a portion of it, 00:18:40.540 |
Just a token of it is burnt up and rest of it is consumed by the priest. 00:18:48.500 |
That one comes next, the peace offering or sometimes called the fellowship offering. 00:18:54.820 |
This portion is given, rest of it is for the purpose of supporting the Levites. 00:19:04.740 |
Flour and oil were the main ingredients for this offering. 00:19:14.020 |
With other sacrifices, God made it very specific. 00:19:18.220 |
He had specific instructions on how they were to be offered. 00:19:22.180 |
The rules governing grain offering had some flexibility. 00:19:27.500 |
He kind of gave some rooms, like you could do it this way, you can do it that way, where 00:19:30.940 |
if you look at the other offering, especially the burnt offering where the instruction is 00:19:36.420 |
He even instructs them where to sacrifice, to the north side, where to get checked, right? 00:19:42.460 |
He gives very specific instructions, what to touch, what you cannot touch, what to cut 00:19:46.660 |
out, what to be offered, but in this grain offering, there's a lot of flexibility. 00:19:57.820 |
There's three different ways that he mentions that even as you offer it, you can offer it 00:20:04.620 |
in a baked in an oven, baked on a griddle, cooked on a pan. 00:20:14.700 |
Why do you think there's so much flexibility in this offering? 00:20:30.620 |
Why do you think there was so much flexibility? 00:20:35.780 |
These are questions I want you to ask as you are studying this before you come if you can. 00:20:42.060 |
Instead of just reading it, ask yourself, "Why is this different? 00:20:45.100 |
Why did God make him do that and not make him do that? 00:20:49.140 |
So if you come asking these questions, I think it'll be easier when I try to explain it to 00:20:54.980 |
Again, it doesn't spell out and say, "This is the reason why you have flexibility," but 00:20:59.260 |
if you just kind of do deductive reasoning behind the meaning of this offering and why 00:21:04.980 |
they were giving it as a dedication, who was it for, I think we can see that there might 00:21:12.580 |
One is, it was meant to be a free will offering. 00:21:21.380 |
I was looking, I used that a couple times and I erased it, but I forgot to erase this 00:21:27.020 |
It's not a free will offering, but it was an offering dedicated for the worshippers 00:21:32.420 |
as an act of gratitude with the exception of it being offering the first fruits. 00:21:42.020 |
This was required, but it was to be given when you desire to give. 00:21:57.140 |
So because it was an offering that was meant to be eaten by the priest, so it may have 00:22:02.440 |
required some flexibility of how it was cooked or for taste. 00:22:08.500 |
So again, this is just reasoning, deduction based upon understanding of this offering. 00:22:14.500 |
This offering was, one, was to be given mostly to the priest for them to eat. 00:22:21.380 |
So when an offer came to give, they could have either baked it in an oven, griddle, 00:22:29.780 |
So it was kind of a, if you really think about it, somebody prepared a meal for the 00:22:41.340 |
And then it could have been cooked, it could have been not cooked. 00:22:43.580 |
So if it's not cooked, they get an uncooked flour and oil and they can cook it themselves. 00:22:48.660 |
Or they could cook it and bring it and leave a portion and then give the rest to them. 00:22:56.340 |
So I think that's one of the reasons why there's flexibility in this offering is because 00:23:01.020 |
And it was kind of like somebody who took the time to cook it and say, "We're offering 00:23:07.180 |
this to you, Lord, to be used by your servants." 00:23:11.660 |
And secondly, it was an offering of dedication. 00:23:15.240 |
So if you're going to dedicate something, it's probably better if you had some part 00:23:19.700 |
in this dedication that you chose for yourself. 00:23:27.180 |
If you, again, just connecting it to our understanding, our application, when we think of sanctification, 00:23:33.140 |
we say the Bible talks about pick up your cross and follow me, right? 00:23:43.120 |
So there's a lot of imperatives in scripture. 00:23:46.120 |
But he doesn't say, "Pick up the cross and follow me," means you need to sell your house. 00:23:56.140 |
You're going to have to serve the church in this way. 00:24:00.060 |
But it doesn't spell out, "Here are 15 things that you need to do, and I want you to mark 00:24:07.260 |
God gave us different gifts, and everything that we do is supposed to be an act of what? 00:24:15.580 |
Whether you eat or drink, do it for the glory of God. 00:24:19.300 |
So a lot of times, especially if you come from a background where you're, you know, 00:24:25.300 |
a lot of times if you're in a very strict discipleship group, especially in college, 00:24:29.540 |
and they tell you what you're supposed to do on Friday, what you're supposed to do on 00:24:32.820 |
Tuesday, you know, what to do with your money, who to date, when to date, how long you're 00:24:36.660 |
supposed to date, what to wear, what not to wear, and you become very accustomed to that, 00:24:40.300 |
and all of a sudden people are not telling you what to do, you feel very, like, you feel 00:24:48.700 |
And so you're really good at jumping through hoops, but you don't really think through 00:24:54.700 |
And then when you do offer it up, you just do it because people told you to do it. 00:24:59.420 |
See, God doesn't want our sanctification to be just jumping through hoops, right? 00:25:05.220 |
You could memorize scripture because somebody is going to make you buy boba if you don't 00:25:10.180 |
do it, and you did do it, but you had no desire to do it. 00:25:13.620 |
So again, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with accountability, right? 00:25:18.620 |
But the danger of just jumping through hoops, you can do that all your life without worshiping 00:25:27.900 |
So in this particular offering, God gives a little bit of flexibility because what God 00:25:37.220 |
So live in purity, serve God, be generous, right? 00:25:40.700 |
Use your gifts to honor God and all of these things, but as an act of worship, right? 00:25:50.020 |
And so I believe that there's flexibility in this because of the meaning behind it. 00:25:54.020 |
What God desires is a pleasing sacrifice, an aroma, and we're going to get to that. 00:25:59.340 |
And that's actually a big part of this offering, right? 00:26:04.180 |
So in this offering, he says frankincense oil was to be added to this offering. 00:26:10.180 |
So when you bring the flower, make sure there is oil. 00:26:16.660 |
Other places in the scripture, oil is often associated with joy. 00:26:25.540 |
And then again, in other places where when you see oil being burned, it describes it 00:26:42.780 |
Well, those are verses that you can look up later, okay? 00:26:45.980 |
So in both instances, frankincense in particular, when they burned this, they said that it had 00:26:53.460 |
It was a very pleasant smelling oil when it was burned, right? 00:26:57.660 |
So remember we talked about that last time when they made burnt offerings? 00:27:02.060 |
And where were the Israelites camped based upon the tabernacle? 00:27:12.260 |
And all the tribes are equal distance from each other, right? 00:27:16.040 |
And then in between them were the Levites, right? 00:27:19.340 |
So you had the tribes and a Levitic tribe between them and then you had the tent, right? 00:27:26.340 |
And so all the sacrifices that they made, burnt offering, you know, all the other sacrifices, 00:27:31.020 |
but in particular burnt offering, they probably heard the slaughter of animals constantly. 00:27:36.180 |
And if you walked into this tent, it was like a slaughterhouse, right? 00:27:41.900 |
I mean at the slaughterhouse at the end of the day, they clean up, but you know, you're 00:27:45.540 |
looking at dirt and you had hundreds of animals being slaughtered in this particular spot 00:27:51.420 |
So there's probably, visually, they probably saw blood everywhere. 00:27:57.020 |
They didn't do a good, they didn't clean it up. 00:27:59.180 |
But God didn't tell them to clean up the blood. 00:28:01.260 |
He actually told them to sprinkle it everywhere. 00:28:05.980 |
And all of that pointed to the blood sacrifice of Christ. 00:28:09.140 |
So again, this was not a clean slaughterhouse that they cleaned and then at the end of the 00:28:18.020 |
Every time they use this altar, it has dried blood on it and then they sprinkle it over 00:28:26.140 |
The altar where the animals are being sacrificed, how often was it burned? 00:28:37.220 |
There was some kind of sacrifice being offered there morning and night. 00:28:42.820 |
Visually, they saw, they probably heard the animals being sacrificed constantly to constantly 00:28:58.420 |
But in this particular offering of frankincense, it was known to emit this particular sweet 00:29:05.420 |
And that's how it's described, that this offering was a sweet aroma to God. 00:29:12.540 |
It was an act of dedication and whenever they burned the sacrifice, there was this smell 00:29:16.900 |
that went out, not only inside the tabernacle, but probably all throughout the camp. 00:29:22.780 |
So they smelled the animals, they smelled barbecue, and they smelled the oil being burned. 00:29:31.200 |
So if you were to imagine yourself in that camp, if you could close your eyes and imagine 00:29:35.280 |
that you're in the middle of the desert and with this little tent in the middle and you 00:29:39.800 |
hear animals being sacrificed and you draw near and you see blood everywhere, but the 00:30:00.440 |
These two things were prohibited that you're not to bring to God. 00:30:07.680 |
The reason behind it is, one, we see that in the Passover, in Exodus chapter 12 and 00:30:13.000 |
in chapter 13, where God says not to make sure that they eat of the unleavened bread. 00:30:19.000 |
And what was the reason behind that, where God forbid eating of leavened bread? 00:30:27.800 |
And it was to remind them that God delivered them in haste, in the manner in which God 00:30:33.320 |
So leaven, again, connected to the book of Exodus, was something that God prohibited. 00:30:42.960 |
But the meaning behind it, rest of scripture, where yeast and honey are known for fermentation. 00:30:57.700 |
So if the dough touched yeast or honey, that it wasn't pure. 00:31:01.080 |
So it was kind of a form of, you know, when God told them to bring a burnt offering, that 00:31:05.720 |
it has had to be a male animal without defect. 00:31:09.540 |
So when God tells them to not to add yeast or honey, it's kind of like the grain offering 00:31:15.240 |
version of offering something to God without defect. 00:31:18.960 |
Then no corrupting agent would come and corrupt that. 00:31:29.580 |
Yeast is often referred to in the New Testament as a corrupting agent of pride, in particular 00:31:44.740 |
Honey again is described sweet in the mouth, but also had a very corrupting agent. 00:31:51.260 |
It was, again, oftentimes in the Bible uses it as honey to trap somebody, right? 00:31:57.820 |
Where you're attracted to the sweet flavor, but once you put it in your mouth, it becomes 00:32:03.580 |
Remember that prophecy in the book of Revelation? 00:32:07.700 |
That gigantic angel, he eats of it and it's sweet in his mouth and bitter in his stomach, 00:32:13.740 |
It describes how the word of God came and it was so sweet, but then the effects of it 00:32:20.260 |
So oftentimes the Bible describes honey in that way. 00:32:22.260 |
So both of them were forbidden because it was considered a corrupting agent. 00:32:27.560 |
So we see in scripture over and over again how yeast is described. 00:32:31.700 |
Matthew 16, 6, "Yeast said to them, 'Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees 00:32:36.580 |
So again, the leaven is where pride enters into them and it just completely corrupts 00:32:44.380 |
Everything that they do is corrupted by their motivation, what's inside of them, right? 00:32:50.500 |
And that's how leaven was used, where leaven comes into a man and he corrupts his views, 00:32:56.700 |
his motivation of why he does what he does is completely corrupted by this pride, right? 00:33:02.940 |
Again in 1 Corinthians 5, 6-8, "Your boasting is not good. 00:33:06.600 |
Do not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. 00:33:10.980 |
Turns out the old leaven that you may be new lump as you really are unleavened. 00:33:14.700 |
For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. 00:33:17.500 |
Let us therefore celebrate the festival not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice 00:33:21.780 |
and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 00:33:25.700 |
So obviously if a Jew was to read this, he would have immediately referred back to this 00:33:33.360 |
So again, honey and leaven was used to describe a corrupting agent, right? 00:33:40.340 |
So what would that mean for us today when talking about sanctification? 00:33:43.940 |
What is one of the greatest hindrances to our sanctification? 00:33:52.060 |
It is our pride where we refuse to yield to God. 00:34:03.380 |
And we're not willing to yield to what the Word of God says, right? 00:34:16.820 |
So that's how the Bible describes leaven, where you kind of stiffen. 00:34:20.780 |
You know, like you put a little leaven into the dough and the dough all of a sudden becomes 00:34:27.980 |
And that's the imagery that we see with leaven, a little bit of pride, right? 00:34:36.020 |
But it also says to add this, the salt, right? 00:34:45.460 |
So if you look at Leviticus 2, verse 13, it says, "You shall season all your grain offerings 00:34:51.700 |
You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing in your grain offering. 00:34:55.340 |
With all your offerings, you shall offer salt." 00:34:58.020 |
So if you read verse 13, you know this is important. 00:35:04.740 |
Use it, make sure you offer it, and when you offer it, that the salt is not missing, make 00:35:12.960 |
So it is repeated over and over again that this is a crucial part of this offering. 00:35:23.020 |
Salt has the exact opposite effect on the dough as leaven and honey, right? 00:35:27.460 |
Salt prevents the offering from rotting while leaven and honey produce it. 00:35:31.200 |
And so we are described in the New Testament as a salt of the world, right? 00:35:38.940 |
So Matthew 5.13, "You are the salt of the earth. 00:35:41.140 |
If a salt loses its flavor, what good is it other than to be thrown on the ground and 00:35:48.540 |
So how does the world experience common grace? 00:35:58.020 |
You think about all the disasters, and I'm not saying the Christians are the only ones 00:36:00.540 |
who respond, but you think about all the humanitarian aids, Compassion International, World Vision, 00:36:10.180 |
If you look at the background, I'm not saying the Christians are the only ones, but predominantly 00:36:13.540 |
throughout history, who are the ones who responded? 00:36:19.900 |
I think I shared this with you years ago in Indonesia when they had that big tsunami, 00:36:26.700 |
I think it was 9.1 or 2, and at the corner of Indonesia, a city called Aceh, and it was 00:36:36.740 |
And it was known as one of the heaviest concentration of militant Muslims in that area. 00:36:43.300 |
When the tsunami hit, they were so desperate, and they started opening the door, and guess 00:36:54.940 |
And as a result of that, a lot of the nominal or maybe Muslims who weren't as committed 00:37:00.820 |
began to say, "Where are our Muslim brothers? 00:37:06.820 |
Because if you look at human history, Christians serve as a preserving agent in the world, 00:37:15.180 |
Humanitarian aid and charity, again, the church is not perfect. 00:37:21.020 |
We have all kinds of problems, but when you look at the totality of what the church has 00:37:24.940 |
been to the world, it really has been a preserving agent. 00:37:28.580 |
And that's what the Bible says that salt was, right? 00:37:37.940 |
But also, it describes a covenant with God which signifying preserving power of God's 00:37:43.340 |
So if you look at Numbers 18, 19, and 2 Chronicles 13, 5, both of them describe the covenant 00:37:53.380 |
So what do you think the significance would be to call God's covenant that he made with 00:38:02.300 |
Immediately you would think of preserving, right? 00:38:06.620 |
Don't you think that's a really appropriate description of the covenant that God makes? 00:38:10.340 |
Because the only reason why Israel is not destroyed is because God is preserving them. 00:38:15.940 |
The only reason why they weren't swallowed up by the Assyrians and the Babylonians and 00:38:20.980 |
the Persians and the Greeks and the Romans and why they still exist, you look at the 00:38:25.900 |
church today, the only reason why we exist with all the sin and corruption and bad doctrine 00:38:31.740 |
and church division, why do we even still exist today? 00:38:39.740 |
God is preserving us because he said, "I will build my church and gates of Hades will 00:38:46.780 |
So this adding of the salt, right, it wasn't simply for flavor. 00:38:53.860 |
But the meaning behind it is that God is preserving this covenant, right? 00:39:01.520 |
Not because they're good, but because God promised. 00:39:03.420 |
He made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 00:39:08.300 |
Again so Matthew 5, 13, "You are the salt of the earth. 00:39:10.860 |
If the salt loses its taste, how shall it be salty to be restored? 00:39:15.460 |
It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's 00:39:26.260 |
Numbers 18, 19, "All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord 00:39:31.460 |
I give to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual due. 00:39:35.780 |
It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you." 00:39:41.660 |
Again, these are verses that I quote, 2 Corinthians, 2 Chronicles 13, 5, "Ought you not to know 00:39:47.540 |
that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons 00:39:54.740 |
Meaning that he's going to keep his promise, right? 00:40:01.220 |
So the grain offering in the New Testament, so all occasions where burnt offering was 00:40:06.060 |
offering in the New Testament was followed by grain offering, expressing dedication and 00:40:11.660 |
So if you look at justification, sanctification always follows, right? 00:40:17.340 |
Isn't that where we are now in Romans chapter 12? 00:40:25.340 |
Ephesians chapter 1, 2, and 3, God's election, his pursuit, his adoption to pray that we 00:40:34.420 |
And then it says in view of all of that, right? 00:40:41.100 |
So it always goes hand in hand, justification, sanctification. 00:40:44.220 |
You don't have, you can't have one without the other. 00:40:47.660 |
There's a lot of people in our generation walking around claiming justification and 00:40:53.060 |
They have no desire to walk with the Lord and yet they're absolutely certain that their 00:41:06.020 |
God didn't just free us from sin so that we can sin. 00:41:15.260 |
He freed us from the bondage of sin, from the curse of sin that we may be able to live 00:41:20.540 |
holy lives because we couldn't do it ourselves. 00:41:23.660 |
So you do not have justification if there is no sanctification. 00:41:27.700 |
We are saved by the blood of Christ and Christ alone. 00:41:30.580 |
There's nothing that we do that adds to justification. 00:41:34.220 |
But when justification happens, sanctification also happens, right? 00:41:39.840 |
In different degrees, 30, 60, 100 fold, right? 00:41:44.460 |
So you may look different to different people, but sanctification does happen. 00:41:48.100 |
So any instance when you see in the scripture where Christ paid the penalty, there is always 00:41:58.680 |
You can't just say, you know, I love Jesus, but I just don't love the church, right? 00:42:04.700 |
I love doing Bible study, but I just, you know, prayer is just not for me. 00:42:09.060 |
I just want to be a good father and take care of my kids, right? 00:42:12.940 |
I mean, the fundamental Christianity is he who confesses with your mouth that Jesus is 00:42:21.100 |
Lord, and believes in his heart that Christ is raised from the dead, then you shall be 00:42:27.100 |
You have to believe in his death and resurrection, and you have to confess with your mouth that 00:42:35.140 |
So whenever you see justification, sanctification follows right along, just like the way they 00:42:41.180 |
sacrifice in the morning, burnt offering, grain offering, at night, burnt offering, 00:42:50.140 |
More specific application, the offering given in the New Testament is used to support the 00:42:55.580 |
So as the grain offering was given, and a large portion of that was for the purpose 00:43:00.740 |
of the tabernacle and the Levites to continue to do God's work, we see that offering being 00:43:05.660 |
applied in the New Testament to support the gospel work, right? 00:43:14.940 |
Romans 10, 9, because if you confess with your mouth, which I just shared, let me go 00:43:35.420 |
Be yourself like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood 00:43:39.020 |
to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus. 00:43:46.660 |
Again, the last part that I was sharing, 1 Corinthians 9, 9-14. 00:43:53.420 |
For as written in the law of Moses, you should not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. 00:44:03.220 |
It was written for our sake because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh 00:44:11.000 |
So what he's referring to here is the grain offering, is a dedication offering. 00:44:16.640 |
If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much that if we reap material things 00:44:21.380 |
If others share the rightful claim on you, do not we even more nevertheless we have not 00:44:27.780 |
But we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 00:44:32.780 |
Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from 00:44:37.060 |
the temple and those who serve at the altar shall share in the sacrificial offering? 00:44:40.980 |
So again, he's referring to the grain offering here. 00:44:43.740 |
In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living 00:44:48.580 |
So again, this is a, again, when we talk about the application of the grain offering in the 00:44:52.740 |
New Testament, it's to support the gospel work, right? 00:44:56.740 |
Through our tithing and through our giving, through supporting missionaries, through, 00:45:04.660 |
It's part of, a big part of sanctification in the New Testament is sacrifice, again, 00:45:16.460 |
That the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who 00:45:22.060 |
For their scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain," and the 00:45:27.460 |
Again, this is referring to this particular offering, okay? 00:45:31.780 |
So so much of the New Testament language, it is based upon what we see in the Old Testament, 00:45:38.980 |
And so when we understand the Old Testament sacrifices, you can see that when Paul says 00:45:51.580 |
He said the mystery was hidden and he made it clear, but it wasn't hidden where nobody 00:45:59.340 |
So the more you study the book of Leviticus and numbers and the prophecies, you see that 00:46:03.820 |
everything, even the vocabulary that is used by apostles in the New Testament was all connected 00:46:10.980 |
So the one, a Jew, think about it, for hundreds and hundreds of years, all of these things 00:46:16.820 |
were not just something that somebody said, that the once a week they went to the temple 00:46:21.100 |
and a pastor gave a sermon and then they went back. 00:46:30.900 |
They, they had to make the sacrifices and it was constantly in their camp, their feasts, 00:46:36.500 |
the sacrifice, their, their, you know, their holidays, everything about the Jewish community 00:46:43.620 |
was about the preparation for the coming of Christ. 00:46:46.700 |
So imagine after seeing this, after God preparing them, I mean, we only looked at two sacrifices, 00:46:54.060 |
I mean, we just started the book of Leviticus, right? 00:46:58.820 |
Every, every single one of this chapter is to get them prepared for the coming of Christ. 00:47:04.940 |
So imagine God doing this with the nation of Israel for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds 00:47:10.320 |
of hundreds of years, and Jesus comes and they say, and they don't recognize it. 00:47:18.180 |
If you've ever tried to teach somebody, whether it's Sunday school or your kids, you know, 00:47:24.940 |
and I remember when Jeremy was, I forgot how old he was, he was like three or four, and 00:47:30.100 |
I tried to teach him the letter C. He got A, B, D, E, he got everything, but he, I don't 00:47:36.660 |
know why every time he saw C, he would say something else. 00:47:43.940 |
And he just couldn't say C, and Esther was like pulling me back, like, he's just three. 00:47:52.100 |
I know, but this is just C, like, why couldn't he just get the C, right? 00:47:56.980 |
Just how frustrating it was, because I tried so hard to get him to say C, he couldn't say 00:48:00.980 |
C. So can you imagine that God did this with the nation of Israel to prepare for the coming 00:48:07.700 |
of Christ, and then Christ stands right before them, and they don't recognize him? 00:48:15.180 |
You know what I was thinking about this week? 00:48:18.220 |
Where the Jews demand signs and the Greeks desire wisdom, and they want to see the power 00:48:28.180 |
I forgot what triggered it, but I was just thinking today, you know, the greatest power 00:48:37.340 |
You think of moving mountains and creating, like, yeah, all of that required power. 00:48:42.020 |
But I was just thinking, like, how much power it must have taken for him not to destroy 00:48:51.580 |
You ever get so angry that you just couldn't contain yourself? 00:48:54.460 |
I mean, if you just, if you see what he was doing with the nation of Israel, just how 00:49:00.220 |
patient he was, and how many times he forgives their sins and restores them, and over and 00:49:04.820 |
over sends his prophet, kills the prophets that he sends to restore them, over and over, 00:49:17.100 |
And I was just thinking, meditating this week, you know, like, it must have required tremendous 00:49:22.420 |
power for him to not to just slap his hand, just destroy it all. 00:49:32.140 |
And I was just thinking, like, God's greatest demonstration of power was what he didn't 00:49:46.660 |
Every single one of this stuff is to get us ready for Christ, right? 00:49:56.240 |
I think about how much access we have to the Word of God. 00:50:02.180 |
We have access to guys like, I mean, world-renowned pastors that we can just click of a button 00:50:09.540 |
Like, you know, one of my favorite preachers is Martin Lloyd-Jones, who doesn't even, he's 00:50:14.620 |
been dead for decades and decades, and I can still click a button and hear him anytime 00:50:22.740 |
The fellowship, air-conditioned room, bills paid, right? 00:50:29.660 |
I mean, we have everything we could possibly need to come to God, and then our greatest 00:50:42.780 |
And I think about how much restraint that it takes for him to persevere with us. 00:50:49.040 |
And the only reason why he perseveres with us is because the blood sacrifice of Jesus 00:50:53.840 |
Christ, because his suffering covers us over these sins. 00:51:02.600 |
I forgot what triggered that thought this week, but even as I was studying this, I was 00:51:13.640 |
This is how much time, effort, and energy he put into preparation for coming to Christ." 00:51:18.680 |
So therefore, when we come to the New Testament, how can we escape if we neglect such a great 00:51:33.440 |
As we study the book of Leviticus, at least recognize, at least recognize what it is that 00:51:46.100 |
So the discussion questions for today, what are you the most thankful for today, specifically? 00:51:54.060 |
In what way do you express your gratitude to God for what you are thankful for, other 00:51:59.460 |
So this was kind of a Thanksgiving offering, an offering of dedication. 00:52:03.220 |
So is our Thanksgiving just how we feel, and do we just sing louder on Sunday? 00:52:08.240 |
Is there a very specific way that you give Thanksgiving to God? 00:52:11.660 |
Because this offering was very tangible, right? 00:52:19.180 |
Number two, how is lordship reflected in the way that you handle finances? 00:52:25.960 |
You can give without reflecting lordship, right? 00:52:33.100 |
Tenth was a dedication that rest of it also belongs to God, right? 00:52:37.380 |
So every once in a while, you're going to read an article that says, you know, "I stopped 00:52:40.500 |
giving tenth," and then you might just read the title and then just move on and say, "Yeah, 00:52:50.200 |
Ten out of ten times, what he's saying is, it's not tenth. 00:52:59.440 |
So the way we handle our finances, does it represent lordship in our life? 00:53:04.780 |
And then the third practical is, outside of work, what do you think you spend the most 00:53:12.580 |
How is lordship expressed in the way that you spend your time? 00:53:14.900 |
Do you tend to see time spent at church enough, or is Christ Lord over all your time, right? 00:53:20.620 |
And you say, "You know, I go to church Wednesday and Sunday, and that's probably more than, 00:53:25.980 |
you know, a lot of nominal Christians, so I get to – the rest of it is mine to do 00:53:33.460 |
If you pick and choose what to give and what not to give, that's not lordship, right? 00:53:44.520 |
It doesn't mean that you can't have fun, you can't take vacation, but that needs to 00:53:50.360 |
So the two most tangible way that we can see lordship is the way you spend your money, 00:53:57.680 |
It does matter, because it is not your life to live anymore. 00:54:04.760 |
When He comes in glory, we will also be glorified with Him. 00:54:08.460 |
So God says, "I have purchased you, now you are mine." 00:54:11.600 |
This grain offering reminds us that we belong to Him, right? 00:54:16.620 |
So how we spend our time, how we spend our money, needs to reflect that, that we've 00:54:21.300 |
been purchased by the blood of Christ, that it belongs to Him. 00:54:26.480 |
What does that have to do with lordship of Christ, right? 00:54:37.160 |
Because these are questions that we should really dig into our lives and ask ourselves. 00:54:43.440 |
The things that I am pursuing, the things that I've held dearly in my heart, every free 00:54:49.480 |
time I get, I'm so eager to do something, but it has nothing to do with God. 00:54:54.040 |
These are things that we need to consider carefully to establish lordship in every aspect 00:54:59.520 |
So if you're here for us, then I'll have you guys get into your small room, take some 00:55:05.320 |
Gracious Father, we ask for your continued patience and grace. 00:55:13.400 |
We desire to be genuine followers, not simply out of obligation or burden, but in light 00:55:25.120 |
Knowing Father God that the day that we met you was not the day that you knew us, that 00:55:33.680 |
from the beginning of time, how you knew us, pursued us, knowing all our failures, our 00:55:41.720 |
past, present, future rebellion, that despite all of these things, Lord God, how you continue 00:55:51.040 |
I pray that that truth would overwhelm us, that we would give you this grain offering, 00:55:59.600 |
Lord God, as an act of dedication, thankfulness, of lordship, to express our love for you, 00:56:07.760 |
Father, for what you are and what you have done. 00:56:11.200 |
I pray, Father, that whatever it is that we are holding onto dearly, afraid, maybe because 00:56:18.360 |
of unbelief, maybe because of immaturity, maybe because we've hardened our hearts against 00:56:26.000 |
you, maybe because of a particular sin, Lord God, that we are cherishing. 00:56:32.820 |
I pray that you would anoint and bless this time, Lord, that we would be honest and open, 00:56:37.400 |
not just to share our weaknesses, but to confess that we truly may repent and come to you, 00:56:44.480 |
knowing, Father God, that you are our only hope, you are our only strength. 00:56:49.280 |
So for that end, we pray that you would anoint and bless this time.