KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Chapters: Leviticus 1-4
Message: Atonement Through Christ’s Sacrifice
Hello My Friend,
Atonement; Expiation; satisfaction or reparation made by giving an equivalent for an injury, or by doing or suffering that which is received in satisfaction for an offense or injury. We talk a lot about redemption, which is forgiveness of sin, but rarely do we talk about atonement, what the payment for redemption is. When Jesus gave His life on the cross, He became the atonement sacrifice that satisfied God’s requirement for reconciliation with Him. Sin is what makes us enemies with God, and if we want God in our lives we need that atonement. And by our accepting His payment at the altar we have received redemption. “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” – Romans 5:10-11.
The Book of Leviticus contains twenty-seven chapters, the timeline for is approximately 1490 B.C. The author of the book is Moses, and it was written to Israel. This book was a manual of worship for Israel, it was provided to give them instructions on how a sinner could have fellowship with God. The purpose of the book was to show Israel how to live as a holy nation in fellowship with God and to extend God’s plan of redemption to all nations. What we are to learn from the book is that God only accepts the offerings of those who come to Him. There is no question that many people want God in their lives, the question is, what God they are wanting because there is only one God, and if we want Him our lives He expects us to live without sin. Of course, He knows we cannot live sin free, and that is why He came up with a way that we might reconcile with Him should we sin. A sacrifice has always been required for atonement, but before Jesus came this was in the form of animals.
“And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.” – Leviticus 1:1-5.
“ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.” God did not discriminate here, if a person wanted to reconcile with God they would be able to regardless of their wealth, while the wealthier people had cattle to give, the less fortunate had turtledoves and pigeons, some the poorest of the poor, only had grain to give, but as long as they gave it willingly, God accepted it. God goes on to explain the meat offering (grain).
“And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.” – Leviticus 2:1-4.
“his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:” The oil and the frankincense had to be a part of this otherwise God would not have accepted the offering. Think about this for a second, the oil was used for light, and the frankincense was used for burial, the flour being flesh. This is a refection of Jesus who gave His flesh on the altar, the oil is His blood, and frankincense sent up that sweet smell to God for atonement. There were some important instructions for those who did bring a meat offering.
“No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire. As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour. And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears. And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering.” – Leviticus 2:11-15.
“with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.” Salt, besides giving things flavor, is a natural preservative, it helps to preserve the food it is sprinkled upon. Think about that for a second, Jesus preserves our life the second we receive Him as our Saviour. But Jesus says that His believers are salt. Are we the ones who help preserve life? We should be if we are telling people the Gospel. Incidentally, they were to never offer anything with leaven or honey, both of these things represent sin, leaven being pride and hypocrisy, honey being lust. “It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.” – Proverbs 25:27.
“so for men to search their own glory is not glory.” This is why we cannot receive atonement by our own good works. Besides the fact that we can never do enough good to get right with Him, we would ruin things by boasting about all our accomplishments. This morning as I was praying I told God that I was done with endless pursuits, searching for things that just are not meant to be. The sin offering was not enough, if they wanted atonement they needed to make peace with God also with another offering.
“And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. And Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.” – Leviticus 3:1-5,17.
“that ye eat neither fat nor blood.” The fat, the best or richest part of the animal, was forbidden for anyone to eat, this was offered solely to God. And the blood is the life, therefore, God would not permit the blood that made atonement to be used as a common thing for them, nor does He allow us. This taught the Jews to observe the distinction between common and sacred things, and it kept them separate from idolaters. While sin is sin and always comes with consequence, there was a difference in how God handled someone who sinned through ignorance or knowingly. Now, God gives instructions on who, how, and when they were to offer the sacrifices.
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them: If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.” – Leviticus 4:1-3.
“If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people;” You see, none of them were without sin, we are all sinners, which is why we need to come to the cross daily, not to keep our salvation, but to remind ourselves where we would be if we did not have His salvation. Salvation is what gives us the atonement and redemption, it is living as sin free a possible with Jesus that saves us from more needless suffering. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” – Romans 6:4-6.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar: And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.” – Leviticus 4:34-35.
Today’s Prayer: God, In a world full of wickedness and corruption it is nice to know that we have a better option, You. You sent Your Son to give us a way to not only fellowship with You, but be with You for eternity. Our sins are what cause us to be separated from You, but Jesus made atonement possible and permanent at the cross. I will never forget what You have done for me, but I know I get watered down with life and become less salty Lord, I give myself to You as a living sacrifice, all that I have is Yours, do what You will with it, and let me be the salt that seasons the world with Your love. Show me what to do, keep me looking to You, and help me keep You first above all things. In ask these things in the name of Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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