A few thoughts on…Leviticus

This is the third edition of this series. You can find the first one on Genesis here, and the second one on Exodus, here.

Leviticus is God mostly speaking to Moses and telling him how He wants His people to love God with all their heart, mind and soul, and love their neighbor as themselves. The ESV Bible, in the introduction to Leviticus says, “The central message is that God is holy and he requires his people to be holy. But the book also shows that God graciously provides atonement for sin through the shedding of blood”.

There is a huge amount of blood in this book. This blood is necessary to cover  sin against a holy redeeming God. Here are some of the thoughts I had while reading:

Leviticus: God provides a way

1. If you think about it– sin is a disgusting thing. Ever been to a butcher shop? Have you smelled the salty, metallic scent of blood? It’s repulsive. If my sin deserves the shedding of blood, then it speaks about the cruelty and evil of sin against a pure and holy God. Leviticus is a good reminder that no sin is too small that doesn’t deserve death.

2. Still, the kind of sacrifice we find in Leviticus could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. “The Mosaic sacrificial system brought neither sanctification of the soul  nor the fullness of God’s peace into the inner life of the worshiper.” (ESVSB) This is why Jesus’s perfect sacrifice was needed. 

3. God’s righteous character is comfort for the soul. Two of Aaron’s sons perished because they offered an unauthorized fire before the Lord. (Lev. 10:1-3). After seeing his two sons die, the Lord spoke to Aaron through Moses: “I will be sanctified and before all the people I will be glorified”. The amazing thing about all this is that the text says “And Aaron held his peace”. He knew God was righteous, so He did not charge God with wrong.

4. The day of Atonement– what a dark and solemn day it was. A sacrifice for the sins of the people was going to be made on that day. They had to afflict themselves. No work could be done. They were going to be cleansed of all their sins through a sacrifice. It foreshadows the day in which Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was killed for the sins of His people. A somber day in which God provided a way back to him…by grace alone, and not through works. That day we would receive cleansing and newness of life.

4.  God blesses obedience, and punishes disobedience. If we disobey, he brings panic and a sense of insecurity in which we will look over our shoulder as if someone is pursuing us (Lev. 26:17). But He promises that if we confess our iniquity and humble ourselves, he will remember his covenant. He is a gracious God. (Lev. 26:40-45)

 In conclusion, Leviticus reminds me of two things:

“The purpose of the law is to foster hope” (Albert Mohler) The law shows us that we cannot be perfect, although we’re meant to be. It places us in a very desperate place so that we can only ask God to bring His redemption and wait for it in hope.

“Because God is both strong and merciful, we can be honest to Him about our sins and failures” (David Powlison) There’s no need to hide from God when we sin. He knows what’s inside of us. And because He is merciful and has provided a way to restore our communion with him through Jesus, we can be comforted that we are forgiven and accepted.

A few thoughts on…Exodus

So this is edition #2 of the series “A few thoughts on…”, and this time we will devote our time and energy to the book of Exodus.

Exodus: The Redeeming God

1. God is very compassionate and will accomplish everything He has planned and promised. He remembers his covenant and acts accordingly.

2. God does not forget His people. It might feel like it at times, but He always proves us wrong . The people of Israel suffered in the land of Egypt for 400 years. They had no hope for freedom. Then God sent Moses, and well… you know the rest of the story.

3. Sin and our sinful nature makes us do weird things. When Pharaoh decided to not let Israel go out of Egypt, God infested his world with frogs. Pharaoh didn’t like them. He asked to be delivered. He couldn’t live like that anymore. When asked when would he liked to be freed from the pest, he said “tomorrow”. Maybe he did like them after all. I wouldn’t have expected that because he was really suffering, but truth is that sin snares us and makes us dumb.

4. God is very zealous for his glory. He expected his people to approach and worship him in certain way, so he took his time instructing Moses. At least 10 chapters of the book of Exodus refer to the worship of God. He has certain pattern in mind which he expects us to follow.

5. Jesus Christ is the pattern. He is foreshadowed in the book of Exodus.  Jesus is God’s goodness and the proclamation of His name and the fullness of  his mercy displayed. The tabernacle they built foreshadowed the real one– Jesus is God’s tabernacle who came to dwell among us.

Exodus is a good reminder of God’s infinite redeeming grace towards undeserving people like you and me. He makes us FREE!

A few thoughts on…Genesis

This is the first post in the series of Bible reading which I have titled “A few thoughts on…” in which I will try to briefly (as briefly as I can!) explain some lessons I’ve learned at the end of each book of the Bible I read.  I am hoping this series will challenge your mind, kindle your emotions for God and His gospel, and lead you to passionate action for God and His kingdom.

I don’t think I can’t tell you enough how excited I am, and how much more in love with God and His word through the reading of Scripture. I just finished reading the book of Genesis, and I think I have never enjoyed a book as much as I have this one. True, there are lots of weird names and unrecognizable places, but it’s amazing to see God at work in the lives of people who do not deserve it.

So here are a few thoughts on the book of Genesis: Origins and a Promise

1. God is faithful no matter how unfaithful we are. In Genesis 2:15-17 he promised Adam that if he took from the fruit, he would surely die. Adam ate; he died. In 3:15 God promised a Savior, and Jesus eventually came. He promised a land and an offspring to Abraham, and Abraham got Canaan and Isaac. God is in motion. NOTHING- not even our sin, barrenness, fear, or people’s failures, can stop Him! Woohoo!

2. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…three major examples in the Bible, were total failures apart from God’s unending grace.

Think of Abraham (liar), Isaac (parenting issues), and Jacob (a deceiver and fearful man). Not nice! Yet God’s grace made them who they were. So there’s hope for you and me!

3. God changes people.

Think of Judah, for example- one of the big brothers with a very bad pedigree: proposes the idea of selling his brother Joseph to the Ishmaelites (37:26-27), slept with his daughter-in-law for he thought she was a prostitute (38:15), two of his sons died, and was very self-righteousness (28:24). But something happened. Twenty years later, when the brothers need to take little brother Benjamin back to Egypt so that they can prove they’re not spies, Judah offers himself as a substitute. When Benjamin is almost taken as slave in Egypt, his speech for his brother’s sake is memorable. The man who once sold his brother Joseph into slavery was now willing to take on responsibility and endure pain for the sake of his brother and his father’s life.

If God could change him, then it is possible for us. What a GREAT encouragement this is!

I think this brother explains it better than I ever could.

4. God’s promises are there to sustain us. This goes along with #1, but I want to point it out here. If God promised something, we can rest assure that He will do it. I don’t know how else to say this to make it sound as significant as it is. Through reading Genesis, I thought to myself that I should learn and memorize God’s promises. They fueled Abraham’s faith for 25 years while waiting in God for a son. I bet they can help us endure these temporary afflictions.

5. God is more gracious, patient, merciful and forgiving than I am. That’s for sure.

6. “ALL of God’s Word is breathed out and profitable for…training in righteousness.” Having said that, genealogies are a true blessing! (more on that in another post)

I wish I could unpack here everything I have learned and written down, but that would make a long post. God is so good, so loving and kind that He is always willing to give of His Spirit to show Jesus in His Word. It’s His work, and it is perfect.

Stay tuned for the continuation of this series at the end of  this month on the book of Exodus!