And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying... As we prepare to hear these words from God, let us warm our hearts beside the spiritual flame of Psalm 19. We have seen in verse 7 that God's law is perfect, reviving the soul, and sure, making wise the simple. Now in the first half of verse …
Continue reading The Ordination of the Priests | Leviticus 8
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying... These words again begin our text, so let us pause to consider them. Each section of our text begins by saying that it is the law, which as we observed last week is perfect and revives the soul. The second half of Psalm 19:7 is equally applicable: "The …
Continue reading The Law of the Offerings | Leviticus 6:8-7:38
The order of the five offerings in Leviticus 1:1-6:7 is theologically significant. After all, nothing in God's Word is random or accidental. Accordingly, many theologians have noticed that the five offerings display the overall pattern of worship for God's people, which I wholeheartedly agree with and will summarize below. Even so, I also suggest another …
Continue reading The 5 Offerings of Leviticus Reflect the 5 Books of Moses
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying... Although we passed over 4:1 last week, we should not do so this week. 5:14 is identical to that verse, which should not surprise us since the phrase is used (with some variation) thirty-seven times in Leviticus. The sheer abundance of that refrain can easily lead to us barely …
Hebrews 10:12-14 tells us that "when Christ had offered of all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are …
Continue reading The Purification Offering | Leviticus 4:1-5:13
I frequently need John Sailhamer’s reminder that Scripture really is Scripture. Let me explain. Sailhamer points out how easily we can use Scripture, especially in historical narrative, as just a means to learn what really happened. We can look through the Bible in attempt to find out what actually happened in the Bible. This approach …
What would you do if you survived the apocalypse and were one of only a handful of people left on the planet? Plenty of fiction has been produced exploring that premise, but we don’t need to turn to fiction, for Noah found himself in that very circumstance. Having found grace in God’s sight for being …
Continue reading The Whole Burnt Offering | Leviticus 1:2-17
The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, Leviticus 1:1 ESV Leviticus is a manual for proper worship. “Worship is addressed in every single chapter in Leviticus. It is Israel’s orienting center” (Palmer, 823). And center is a very fitting word. The Torah, the first five books of the …
Exodus is the narrative heart of the Old Testament. Genesis, of course, is a book of roots. Chapters 1-11 show us the roots of humanity and all of creation, while chapters 12-50 give us the roots of God’s chosen people, the descendants of Abraham. Exodus, however, gives us the central story of God rescuing and …
Continue reading And the Glory of the Lord Filled the Tabernacle | Exodus 40
When reading through the book of Exodus, most find the second half much less exciting than the first half because of laws and because of these chapters and the previous chapters that they mirror, 25-31. Yet the structure of Exodus wants us to see that this what all the marvelous works that God did to …
B. C. Newton 