And YHWH called to Moses and spoke to him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Leviticus 1:1

Spoke – Why did God wait until His presence rested over the tabernacle before He spoke to Moses about the sacrifices?  Some contemporary translations of this verse omit the word “tabernacle,” but we shouldn’t!  The tabernacle represented the presence of God among His people.  It was not a dwelling place.  God didn’t reside in the tabernacle.  It was a visible symbol of God’s glory in the midst of the camp; a reminder that God elected this community.  From this holy manifestation, God instructs Moses.  The fact that God communicated out of the tabernacle raised the communication to its most sacred level.  What God says next is critically important.  It has the same authority as the voice from Mount Sinai.  What God says involves all the details of how we are to stand before Him.

The Hebrew word dabar means both “to speak or to say” and “what is spoken, a word or speech.”  The same consonants (D B R) are used in both forms.  What God speaks is His word.  Once we have that securely in mind, then we need to ask the next question:  How are we to treat God’s word?  The answer is obvious.  God’s word is the very substance of life.  Not only must we have it in order to live (“Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”), but it is also God’s word that calls everything, including us, into existence.  God’s word is the instruction that will not disappear even if heaven and earth disappear.  God’s word is the permanent declaration of His will, His character and His authority.  When God speaks, the angelic hosts revel in His majesty.  So, when God summoned Moses and spoke to him, you can bet that Moses listened very attentively.  Makes you wonder about us, doesn’t it?  Do we treat this portion of God’s word with the reverence it deserves?  Do we recognize it with the same power and majesty as the speaking of the Ten Commandments?  Are we as careful to obey it?  Probably not, but it makes you wonder, doesn’t it?  When did we decide that some things God’s says are more important than others, that some are more spiritual than others?

There is one other element to this voice from the tabernacle.  When God does tell Moses about the system of sacrifices, we discover that the offerings cover a very wide range of human situations and attitudes.  Yes, that’s right – attitudes.  God’s instructions acknowledge no difference between civil and spiritual “laws”, no difference between what is moral and what is legal, and no difference between my heart and my hands.  Of course, there are different civil punishments, and different elements of sacrifice, for those who exhibit inner attitudes in ungodly outer behavior, but the torah is the only ancient code that actually legislates what I think as well as what I do.  When it comes to the Word of the Lord, all life falls under His purview.  Sometimes we forget that God has an interest in everything about us.  Maybe that’s why Leviticus is so detailed.  Maybe that’s why we usually think it boring.  Maybe we’re the ones who want anything but the routine, but it is in the routine that God is so wonderfully present.

Next time you wish you were climbing mountains, look around at the valley where you’re standing.  God is sitting in those shadows, ready to greet you.

Topical Index:  Sacrifice

And YHWH called to Moses and spoke to him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Leviticus 1:1

Called – If you had to decide which book of the Bible you would use to train your children in the ways of God, would you choose Leviticus?  Probably not.  You would probably decide on some New Testament book, most likely the gospel of John.  That seems to be the evangelical choice of the last century.  But when you think about it (from God’s perspective), John is really not a very good place to being, is it?  It’s far to complicated.  It assumes a great deal of prior Jewish theology.  It has a peculiar vocabulary (which most of us don’t appreciate in English).  And it really doesn’t tell us what we need to know, does it?  Yes, it proclaims the divinity of Yeshua, the Messiah, but it doesn’t really tell me what I have to do.  It leaves me with verses like, “keep my commandments,” and “love one another.”  But what do those statements mean in practical application?  We can’t afford to guess, can we?  After all, eternal matters are at stake.

Maybe that’s why the education of a Jewish child begins here, in Leviticus.  Leviticus is the great book of the details of sacrifice.  It spells out exactly what I have to do.  It tells me precisely how I must live if I am to honor the God Who set me free.  Without all this background, it’s hard to say if the gospels really come to grips with the biggest issues in life.  Unless I know what Yeshua learned when he was a child in synagogue school, I really can’t appreciate what He tells me as my Lord.  It’s time to go back to kindergarten and learn to read by learning Leviticus.

Most of us will have quite a bit of resistance to this idea.  We think we know what the Bible is all about.  It’s about faith and grace and forgiveness and mercy.  Leviticus is all about peace offerings and cereal offerings and purification offerings and all those things that don’t really matter anymore, right?  Why should we be bothered with ancient rituals when we are free?  Who cares if the Lord smells a sweet aroma?  We’re forgiven, right?  We don’t have to practice all those strange customs now.  Or do we?

Why did the children of ancient Israel learn to read by studying Leviticus?  The answer is simple – and startling in its condemnation of our blindness.  The children of ancient Israel were taught to read through the study of Leviticus because the most important thing in life is my service and submission to God.  If I don’t start with this focus, all the rest of my education is really pointless.  If I don’t learn right from the beginning what God wants and how to serve Him, what is the purpose of learning anything else?  Parents in Israel knew something we have forgotten.  God comes first!  Training children in God’s word begins the moment they can talk.  The purpose of education is to enter into His presence and enjoy His fellowship, not to get a better job!

God summoned Moses.  That’s what this Hebrew word qara means.  God is going to deliver the perfect instruction for dealing with sin in His family.  It will all lead to the perfect sacrifice.  But unless I know the details, unless I practice obedience, I will never understand how extraordinarily significant the death of the Messiah is.  Time to get back to school.  When God summons, don’t be tardy.

Topical Index:  Sacrifice