1:3 — “A male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD.”
Willing offerings to the Lord demonstrate where the desires of our heart truly lie. We can never outgive God. He has given us His very best, and He expects our best in return. And our obedience to Him in all things will surely bring blessing.
1:17 — “An offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.”
Eager obedience is a sweet aroma to the Lord. Christ lived to obey His Father, and when we follow His example, we too become a sweet aroma to the Lord—the aroma of Christ Himself (2 Cor. 2:15).
2:11 — “You shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the LORD.”
The Bible often uses leaven or yeast as a picture of sin (Matt. 16:6). It was not to be offered on the altar, just as sin is not to be allowed to dominate the life of the believer.
2:13 — “With all your offerings you shall offer salt.”
Salt is here used to symbolize God’s covenant with His people. Just as salt is necessary to sustain life, so is God’s continual relationship with us necessary to sustain and enjoy life everlasting.
4:2 — “If a person sins unintentionally.”
To sin “unintentionally” is better understood as to sin unthinkingly—something we all do. Yet God is gracious; He not only reveals our sin to us, but He also offers us His forgiveness.
Answers to Life’s Questions
How can I rid myself of guilt?
Consider several key steps required to be free from guilt, all under the banner of forgiveness:
1. Admit the sin that created your guilt. Repent of your sin to God. If you have sinned against another person, confess to that person. Remember that our society is quick to accept some sinful behaviors as normal. The Bible presents a very clear picture of what is iniquity and what isn’t. If you have any doubt about whether or not you have sinned, consult Scripture. God will show you what is a violation of His Word and what isn’t.
When you confess to God that you have sinned, don’t try to justify what you did. Simply state your transgression. Then ask God to forgive you.
2. Make amends. If you have wronged another person, don’t try to substitute a request for forgiveness by doing kind deeds for that person. This same principle holds for your relationship with God—don’t try to substitute works for genuine repentance.
In seeking to make amends for a wrong committed against another person, you may be wise to ask the person what he or she would consider fair payment for the hurt or injury, or you may want to offer remuneration of some type. The best repayment may be a genuine change in your life (which may involve counseling, professional help, or therapy). Ask God to give you wisdom in identifying an appropriate way for you to respond. Also, ask Him to give you the courage and the fortitude to follow through on your commitment to the offended person.
3. Accept forgiveness. If you have sinned against God and have repented, you can be assured that He has forgiven you. His Word promises that He will pardon you (1 John 1:9)—and God always keeps His Word. If you have sinned against another person and he forgives you, accept his words of forgiveness at face value. Don’t try to second-guess his sincerity or motives.
What happens if you confess a sin against another person and the person refuses to forgive you? That person bears the responsibility for failing to forgive; you don’t. You have done what the Lord requires of you, and you stand clean before the Lord.
See the Life Principles Index for further study:
5:17 — “Though he was unaware, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.”
Guilt is real—it’s not merely a feeling. Hardened sinners may feel no guilt, but in fact bear great guilt. This is why we need the blood of Christ to cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
6:5 — “Anything about which he swore falsely; he shall make restitution for it in full and add to it one-fifth more.”
When we have defrauded or hurt someone, genuine repentance requires restitution. It is not enough to say, “I’m sorry,” or “Please forgive me.” We are to put right what we have done wrong (Luke 19:8).
What the Bible Says About
The Old Testament uses an interesting word, “atonement,” in connection with the forgiveness of God. Leviticus tells sinful Hebrews to bring a guilt offering to the priest, who “shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt” (Lev. 6:7).
Atonement means “to cover.” It is the same Hebrew word used in Genesis 6:14, where God instructs Noah how to build the ark: “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.”
While the sacrificial system functioned for a time, it was temporary and inadequate in nature. The sins of those living under the Levitical system were forgiven, but the people still carried the burden of their sinful nature. Every time they sinned, they would again be required to make an offering. Also, not all of their transgressions could be atoned for—such as certain deliberate violations of the Law (Lev. 4). Therefore, sin continued to have power over them. Why? Because the blood of animals can never pay the whole debt incurred by sinners: “In those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:3, 4).
In God’s economy, sin creates a deficit. Whenever sin occurs, something is taken or demanded from the sinner. Ultimately, God requires death as payment for sin. So Paul writes, “Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12).
So if the penalty for sin is death, then why did God not immediately end the lives of Adam and Eve? Did He not say that on the day they sinned, they would “surely die” (Gen. 2:17)? Why does He not do the same for all sinners? Why provide a system that is inadequate to deal with our sinful nature?
The answer is simple, yet life-changing. He was providing “a shadow of the good things to come” (Heb. 10:1)—showing us how much we really need Him and teaching us to have faith that He can provide us with everlasting life.
You see, God is interested in more than retribution. He desires something more than getting paid back for the disrespect shown Him. God wants fellowship with us. And He willingly paid the ultimate price to rescue us from our sin and reconcile us to Himself as only He could. Not forgiveness of sins one by one—but forgiveness once and for all (Heb. 10:10). That’s why by His death on the cross and resurrection Jesus completely replaced our sinful nature with His righteousness—so we can have eternal fellowship with Him (2 Cor. 5:17–19).
So, “Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:24, 25).
See the Life Principles Index for further study:
Life Examples
A Fatal Compromise
Aaron—Moses’ older brother, right-hand man, and spokesman during the time of the exodus—received a very high divine calling: to serve as priest for the liberated nation (Lev. 8:1–36). Because this enormous task also carried great responsibility, such a man had to live in a manner beyond reproach.
Aaron, unfortunately, had a weakness for unwise compromise. At a crucial time when Moses and his people needed him to stand strong, he gave in to the clamoring of the Israelites and forged a golden calf for them to worship. Through his failure he missed out on God’s very best for himself and doomed a number of Israelites to a fatal encounter with holy God. Aaron’s compromise led to the deaths of three thousand of his fellow Hebrews (Ex. 32:28).
Aaron reminds us that God requires full obedience to His Word, no matter how tempting it may feel to compromise.
See the Life Principles Index for further study:
2. Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.
8:35 — “So I have been commanded.”
Even in worship, Moses did only what God had commanded him. God takes the lead; we are to follow. God’s greatest servants understood this, and so should we if our goal is to please Him.
9:24 — Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
How many times do we come to the house of the Lord to genuinely offer ourselves to Him in worship (Rom. 12:1, 2)? All of the commands and details that God gave through His prophets show us that there is a proper way to worship Him—and that’s to offer ourselves to Him as His holy and obedient people. When we do our part, God does His part—and we are blessed by seeing His glory.
10:3 — “I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored.”
Although we are saved by grace through faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8), God’s nature has not changed. We can never forget that God insists on being treated as holy—especially as we serve Him (1 Pet. 1:14–19).
11:45 — “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
God created us to be holy, as He is holy. He makes us holy when we place our faith in Christ, and we live out that holiness when we surrender to God and yield to His Spirit in obedience.
12:7 — “This is the law for her who bears a child.”
The majority of ancient cultures required women to return to their daily chores immediately after childbirth. However, the Hebrew community was different because of the commands of God found in Leviticus 12:1–8. Jewish women were able to recuperate during their time of purification, regaining their strength and bonding with the baby. God’s commands are for our good—to protect and bless us. That’s why we should obey God even when we don’t understand His commands to us.
14:35 — “A mark of leprosy has become visible to me in the house.”
God is sovereign and full of grace. Just as the Lord would bring His people into the Promised Land, He would also warn them when their houses were afflicted with mildew and mold so they wouldn’t become infected. He promises to protect His people in every way, which is why we should always trust Him.
15:31 — “Keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness.”
We may wonder about all of the rules and regulations given to Moses, but it comes down to this: Will we trust God—that He knows best—even when something makes no sense to us? God does not require us to understand His will, just obey it, even if it seems unreasonable—and certainly, our obedience will bring blessing.
16:2 — “He shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die.”
It is an awesome privilege to come into the presence of the Lord. We should never treat it casually or flippantly, as Aaron learned.
16:21 — “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel.”
The Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:26–32; Num. 29:7–11) was the one day in the year that the high priest made a sacrifice for the sins of Israel. He took two goats and sacrificed the first on the altar as atonement for their sin. The second symbolically became the scapegoat (or sin-bearer) for the sins of the nation of Israel. When He died on the cross, Jesus Christ became our ultimate Sin-Bearer (Is. 53:4, 5).
16:29 — “This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls.”
Only on the Day of Atonement was the whole nation of Israel commanded to fast (“humble your souls”). Fasting helps us to focus not only on the seriousness of our sin, but even more on the treasure of God’s forgiveness.
17:7 — “They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot.”
To serve and worship other gods is described as spiritual adultery—a detestable unfaithfulness both then and now. As adultery rouses an offended spouse’s wrath, so idolatry rouses the anger of God.
17:11 — “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”
Blood is sacred, since it is the very life of human beings made in God’s image. So Christ’s blood had to be shed for the salvation of the world (Rom. 3:25; 5:9; Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:22).
18:4 — “You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God.”
We are to be a distinct people who follow the ways of God rather than the ways of the ungodly. When we allow Jesus to live His life through us, we live in the holy way God requires.
19:10 — “Nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.”
God has a special concern for the poor and the disadvantaged, and His people are to share His concern for them. The more we are conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29) and bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23), the more we will share His concerns.
19:32 — “You shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.”
God connects fear of the Lord with honoring the elderly. Those who disrespect the aged in fact dishonor the Lord.
19:34 — “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself.”
Jesus said that along with loving God, the more than six hundred commands in the Law and the Prophets are all based upon loving your neighbor (Matt. 22:36–40; Mark 12:28–31). Why? Because we show we belong to Him when we love others (John 13:34, 35; Rom. 13:8; 1 John 4:20).
20:26 — “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.”
It is both a great privilege and an enormous responsibility to belong to the Lord. We cannot have an intimate relationship with God without reflecting His holiness, and intimacy with Him is our highest calling.
22:19 — “For you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect.”
God commanded that sacrifices were to be completely without spot or blemish in honor of His absolute holiness. That is why the virgin birth (Is. 7:14; Matt. 1:23) is so central to our salvation—because with a normal birth, the seed of the sin nature comes through the father (Gen. 3:15; Rom. 5:12). Yet, as we know, Jesus was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:30–35)—not by a human father—so He did not receive the sin nature and lived a completely sinless life. That made Him the perfect sacrifice for us (John 1:29; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 1:19).
22:21 — “When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering . . . there shall be no defect in it.”
We are to give our best to the Lord, not our leftovers. We reveal what the Lord means to us by what we freely offer to Him. Most of all, He wants our hearts—and in return, He gives us Himself.
23:2 — “My appointed times are these.”
It is important to God that His people regularly come together to celebrate His goodness and provision. There are blessings and instruction that we experience in community that we cannot receive in solitude.
23:5 — “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover.”
The celebration of the Passover reminded the Israelites of God’s great provision for them during their exodus from Egypt (Ex. 12). However, it also foreshadowed the sacrifice Jesus would make on the cross to deliver us from sin and death (1 Cor. 5:7).
23:10 — “Bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.”
The Israelites were required to reap from their barley harvest, to wrap their offering in sheaves, and to bring it to the priest as a symbol of their dependence upon God that the rest of their crop would be bountiful. In the same way, Jesus is the first of the resurrection, showing that we can have absolute confidence that God will raise us from the dead as well (Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 15:20–23).
23:16 — “You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD.”
The second harvest offering was presented at the end of the Feast of Weeks—fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits—but this time wheat was given (Deut. 16:9–12). It was a celebration of the fulfillment of God’s promised harvest He had given and was continuing to provide for them. In the New Testament, we see this feast in its fulfillment on the Day of Pentecost. Fifty days after Christ’s resurrection, the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to bring in the harvest—all the people who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and would become the Church (Acts 2).
23:24 — “In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.”
During ancient times, the beginnings of each month and year were uncertain—priests watched for the new moon to mark the passing of days. Because no one knew the day or the hour when the new year would begin, the blowing of the trumpets signaled to the Israelites that they were to stop working and celebrate—offering sacrifices and praises to the Lord. Likewise, we may not know the day or the hour of the Lord’s return, but we do know it will be marked with the mighty blast of a trumpet (Matt. 24:31; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16).
23:27 — “On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement.”
Atonement (Lev. 16; Num. 29:7–11) means to reconcile people to God—or restore their fellowship with Him—by covering their sin with sacrifices. It was the only day of the year the high priest could enter into God’s presence in the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the people of Israel (Ex. 25:22; Heb. 9:6, 7). For the believer, Christ has made atonement for us once and for all because He has restored our fellowship with the Lord, and we enjoy His presence forever (Rom. 5:9; Col. 1:19–22; Heb. 9:24–28).
23:34 — “On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths.”
The most joyful of Israel’s celebrations, the Feast of Booths, was a reminder of God’s protection during their forty years of wandering before they entered the Promised Land, and His goodness in providing the completion of the harvest (Num. 29:12–38; Deut. 16:13–17). This feast foreshadows when God’s people are gathered to Him during Christ’s millennial kingdom (Is. 27:12, 13; Zech. 14:16).
24:12 — They put him in custody so that the command of the LORD might be made clear to them.
It is always wise to wait to act until we can learn the mind of the Lord. If we truly want to know God’s will, He will move heaven and earth to show it to us.
25:4 — “During the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard.”
Can you imagine trusting God for an entire year’s worth of provision? Yet, that is exactly what He commanded the Israelites to do every seventh year—they were neither to sow nor prune; rather, they were to rest in His care and experience His blessing.
Answers to Life’s Questions
What does it mean to live in the fear of the Lord?
There are several practical indications of a life lived in the fear of the Lord.
1. Obedience to God’s commandments
The Lord has given us very specific commandments in His Word, and He expects us to obey Him without regard to circumstances or situations. No matter what others may say in offering us an alluring, good-sounding “alternative plan” to God’s commands, we must never choose to follow their advice. Schemes of man’s design may seem to make sense, but the Lord tells us, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Prov. 14:12). God’s Word is very clear. The problem most Christians encounter is their lack of understanding when it comes to His standards for right and wrong. They may know what is right and what is God’s will for their lives, but they choose to disobey Him, and this always leads to disappointment, frustration, and heartache.
2. A desire to be like Jesus
Those who truly love Jesus as their Savior and Lord will want to be like Him. How did Jesus live? Jesus lived in complete obedience to His Father. He did only what the Father instructed Him to do, and He spoke only what the Father prompted Him to say. What Jesus did, we are to do—not to the best of our ability, but in submission to the Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live as Jesus lived, and it is our responsibility to ask Him to guide, help, counsel, and empower us to obey. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us, the more we gain the ability to live like Jesus.
3. A life of courage
Those who fear mankind and natural disaster suffer a panic that paralyzes. Those who fear the Lord with a holy awe, on the other hand, find a courage that mobilizes them to act. God challenges His people to live in confidence and to respond boldly and courageously to life. Such “heroes of the faith” as Moses, Joshua, and the apostles Peter and Paul faced incredible challenges, yet they succeeded because of their God-given courage. They learned the same lesson that emboldened Ezra to say, “Thus I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God upon me” (Ezra 7:28).
See the Life Principles Index for further study:
25:55 — “For the sons of Israel are My servants.”
We are not only children of God; we are His servants. The one speaks of privilege, the other of duty. Both are ours in Christ.
26:12 — “I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.”
Peace with God is the fruit of oneness with Him. The Lord’s greatest desire since the beginning of creation is to be with us, His people, to display His glory through us, and to bless us. God not only desires to be in the closest, most intimate relationship possible with His people, but He has provided everything necessary for that relationship through Christ.
27:30 — “Thus all the tithe of the land . . . is holy to the LORD.”
God is clear about how He expects us to honor Him in the area of our finances (Deut. 14:22, 23; Mal. 3:8–12). We are to give Him a tithe—ten percent of what we produce or earn. We can never outgive God. The Lord gave us everything we have, and He wants us to acknowledge Him as the source of all our blessings.