Day 49 – Leviticus 16-18

Talking Points

• God introduces the day of atonement, when they would “…be clean from all [their] sins before the LORD” (16:30). The day was to be a serious day of “solemn rest” (16:31). Again, God is revealing the issue that ruins mankind — sin. Sin has brought judgment and guilt. Sin has brought sickness, decay, and death. Sin separates us from God. And, all of that is true because sin is an affront against God. He hates it. Sin must be atoned for, dealt with. This is the need of mankind. This is the point of the gospel.
• The process for atonement and the day of atonement are clearly detailed. Failure to operate in exact, precise obedience will result in the death of the priest. Dealing with sin is a grave thing.
• As part of the process, we become familiar with the “scapegoat.” Remember the sin offering with the two birds? One is sacrificed and the other is released. One is slain and the other goes in freedom. The scapegoat is similar, but with a different symbolism. Like the two birds, there are also two goats. Also like the birds, one is sacrificed as the payment for sin. However, it is here the meaning differs. The second goat is assigned all the sin and all the guilt of the sons of Israel. It symbolically takes all of the weight of sin and carries it into the wilderness. Their sin is removed as it is carried away. Both of these acts are strong pictures of Jesus. In one, He dies, so the innocent can go in freedom. In the other, He carries all the weight of mankind’s sin, and we bear it no longer. Again — Jesus in Leviticus!
• God defines acts of sexual practice that He considers sinful and detestable in His sight. He defines and outlaws incest, homosexuality, bestiality, and adultery. In this area, also, God’s people are to be different.

Thoughts

It starts very early — very early. We want to fit in. We want to be part of the club, to be like everyone else. We want the shoes like the kid in our kindergarten class that will make us fast. We want clothes like the kids in our junior high that will make us cool. We want to do things like the kids in our high school that will make us popular. And, it doesn’t end there. Look at social media. As adults, we want to go to the trendy restaurants, to be able to discuss the interesting new shows, and, yes, to still wear the stylish clothes. We want to fit in.

Here’s a radical truth — God calls us out. He wants us to be different, odd, and honestly, flat weird! In fact, He is honored by it. In these verses, we see a cycle repeated throughout Scripture: God calls His people to stand out, to be unwilling to melt into the norms of the world. We do not do what the lost world does. Actually, as we grow in our love for God, we will grow in our disdain for sin.

My prayer today is that I would not buy the lie of the world that says we can do both — love the world and be sold out to Christ. I pray that as alluring as it is, I would be unwilling to compromise. I pray for the courage and strength to be really, ridiculously weird. Lord, help me embrace being a square peg in a round hole world!

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2