But only one matters. Leviticus 7.37, 38
Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Leviticus/Numbers (2)
Pray Psalm 141.1, 2.
LORD, I cry out to You;
Make haste to me!
Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.
Let my prayer be set before You as incense,
The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Sing Psalm 141.1, 2.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
O LORD, we call to You in prayer! To us come quickly; hear our cry!
Receive our prayer as incense sweet, our lifted hands as a sacrifice!
Read and meditate on Leviticus 7.37, 38.
Preparation
1. How many different offerings were required?
2. Who required them?
Meditation
Let’s imagine a man of Israel who has just come to the place where he is old enough to offer his own sacrifices to the Lord. All the sacrifices. Burnt offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, trespass offerings, consecration offerings, and peace offerings. Let’s imagine that, over the years of his life, he is faithful in keeping every one of these, whenever they are due, in just the right form and substance. Over the course of a lifetime that would amount to a small pond of oil, a considerable mound of grain, a rivulet of blood, and a sizeable heap of dead animals.
Now let’s imagine every Israelite doing the same faithfully all their years, for all the years of the Old Testament up to the coming of Jesus Christ. As John might say, I don’t think the world could contain the whole of all those sacrifices! So many sacrifices! Why?
Because the sins of God’s people were so great, greater than could ever be tallied, just as are our own sins.
And yet that planet-overflowing mountain of sacrifices, all that blood and grain and oil and whatnot, would not have been able to remove the sin of even one human being (Heb. 10.1-3). And this is a measure of the infinite greatness of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. The entire sacrificial system of Israel collapsed into a memory as Jesus died on the cross (Heb. 10.8-10), for He alone, by His sacrifice, is able to take away the sins of the world, not just cover them over for a while (cf. Jn. 1.29).
All the sacrifices of the Old Testament point to Jesus. For Israel could not keep them all, nor did they even desire to do so. God would have to keep the covenant sacrifices for them, as we recall from Genesis 15, and He would do so not with temporal things but with His eternal Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
O! precious is the flow that makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my pardon this I see—Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing, this my plea—Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
O! precious is the flow that makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
(Robert Lowry, 1876)
“But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind have taken us away” (Is. 64.6).
When that is the best we can do, even with the burnt, grain, sin, trespass and peace offerings, and the consecrations, we can only surmise that we need a Savior. And that Jesus Christ is the only Savior there is. We need Him and the cleansing blood that He willingly came to shed for us. We cannot cleanse ourselves. It is not possible. So, when we read of all those offerings, we knowingly say, “There He is!”
Just as John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1.29)
“But we see Jesus,
Who was made a little lower than the angels,
for the suffering of death
crowned with glory and honor,
that He, by the grace of God,
might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2.9).
Jesus—The Quintessential Offering.
Reflection
1. Why can we rest and rejoice in the sacrifice of Jesus?
2. Why do you think it was so hard for the people of Israel in Jesus’ day to see Him as the Lamb of God?
3. Why do you think so many people today have not been willing to accept Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins?
A summary listing of the offerings of chs. 1–7, with the reminder that these sacrifices were prescribed by God Himself on Mt. Sinai. What God commanded He made possible, by giving careful instruction (the law of the … offering) regarding the proper way to bring the offerings before Him. God does not leave His people to wonder how they may approach Him and please Him. All these offerings foreshadow, in one way or another, the perfect sacrifice of Christ upon Calvary. Earl Radmacher (1933-2014), NKJV Study Bible Note on Leviticus 7.37, 38
Pray Psalm 141.3-10.
Pray that God will cleanse your heart, protect you from all evil, and help you to keep the eyes of your heart focused on Jesus, exalted in glory (Col. 3.1-3) throughout the day.
Sing Psalm 141.3-10.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
LORD, set a guard upon my mouth; let not my heart to evil bend,
nor let me work iniquity in company with wicked men.
LORD, let a righteous man rebuke—a kindness this shall surely be.
Like healing oil upon my head, Your sweet rebuke shall be to me.
When to the judgment wicked men by God are cast, our words shall tell:
Like broken sod or fresh plowed ground, so shall their bones be cast to hell!
We lift our eyes to You, O LORD, and refuge seek; LORD, save our soul!
From every trap and snare redeem; deliver us and make us whole.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
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