Month: January 2021

1. Live

Leviticus 18:5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.

This is a conditional promise: if you keep the Commandments, then you will live. You will have a good life, a long life, a happy life, and even an eternal life. This is a general truth that applies to all people: those who keep God’s Law will be blessed in life and living on earth. The principle of cause and effect is in play for all created humans, whether they are believers or unbelievers. The degree to which anyone follows the principles of God’s Moral Law he will have a good life on earth. He will live. And the degree to which any person disobeys, murders, commits adultery, steals, lies or covets, etc., he will not have a good life on earth. The curses come into effect when we do not keep the Law; it is not simply a punishment (“God will get you for that”), but it is the consequence of bad behavior in thought, word and deed. Sin diminishes the full enjoyment of life. Write it down; take it to the bank. Living well, fully, richly, happily, and productively corresponds directly to keeping His statutes and judgments.

This truth leaves us in despair, of course, because we cannot stop sinning and breaking God’s Law in thought, word, and deed. We know we do not keep the Law as well as we want to. “The good that I would, I do not, etc.” Therefore, the NT quotes the OT and promises this: “The righteous shall live by faith [Romans 1:17].” Faith in the Gospel brings the power of salvation; and faith gives the perfect keeping of the Law that Jesus lived: His life was righteous. Jesus earns for us the righteousness of God. By repentance and faith we may, and we do, meet the condition of “keeping.” Therefore, we shall live; we will live better and live eternally. We love God’s life in us so much we do not want to let a day or a week go by without repenting and believing. We receive and welcome Jesus into our lives again and again. Then we live. We keep the fire of the Spirit of Life burning brightly when we receive forgiveness regularly. We live according to the Law, for it is a beautiful gift meant for our positive benefit: We Live!

1. Blood will make Atonement

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in he blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Blood makes atonement for us and forgives our sins, because the life of the flesh is in the blood. The blood sacrifices of bulls, goats, heifers and lambs makes atonement for the soul by sign and symbol in that it points to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world by His once for all sacrifice on the cross. Shedding blood equals dying. When one bleeds out he dies. When one keeps his blood flowing and active he is alive. The sacrificial animal sacrifices his life for the worshiper’s life, to forgive his sins, make atonement with God, and give life in place of death to the soul. When we see the blood we are reminded of life and death. Sin brings death. Forgiveness of sins brings life.

We see life and death in the blood. The life is in the blood; death is in the loss of blood. Seeing a person bleed to death is abhorrent. But so also is sin, and we need to see it in just the same way. Sin and death are graphically portrayed in the animal blood sacrifices. We are made the feel the horror of sin and the terror of death when we see the blood of the sacrifice.

When we see the shed blood and death of Christ on the cross we should also feel terrible about our own sins, laid upon Him, and at the same time we should feel exuberant joy about the forgiveness and life that is earned for us and given to us. When we see the blood we see the love of God.

The promise that comes through the sacrifice of the Son of God is that the blood makes atonement for our souls. Atonement is the reconciliation of a ruptured relationship, the restoring of a broken intimacy. Our soul is separated from God because of sin. When Jesus’ blood is shed forgiveness replaces sin, life replaces death, salvation replaces condemnation, and union with God replaces isolation. We are no longer alienated and alone, but we are reconciled with our loving God and Father. The promise of blood/life: you will be together with God now and forever.

1. Sacrificial Atonement

Exodus 4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:10, 13, 16, 18; 6:7 The priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.. 

The first several chapters of Leviticus prescribe the various kinds of sacrifices the priests are to make for the people. The same refrain recurs for each kind of sacrifice: atonement made and sins forgiven. Sacrifices were to be offered daily for different purposes, but each one involved the forgiveness of sins. God is pleased with the sacrifice and forgives the sins of the sacrificer. The priest makes the sacrifice of the animal in a certain prescribed ritual way. The priest would make a sacrifice for himself and the priests. He would make a sacrifice for all the people. He would make a sacrifice for anyone who brought a sacrificial animal.

The promise clearly given with the sacrificial system is that the Lord will forgive the sins of the believer and worshiper. The priest atones for the worshipper, that is, the priest’s work is to bring the believer to the Lord and reunite them after sin had broken the relationship. The sins he has committed will be forgiven him; the forgiveness comes from God through the priest, who offers the victim in place of the worshiper. All of this elaborate description of sacrifices is clearly to point the way to the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the Priest, who makes the sacrifice and through whom the forgiveness comes from the Lord. As priest, He also brings our sins and prayers to God. Jesus is, at the same time, the Victim, whose blood is shed in the place of the sinner for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus is the once for all sacrifice, for all people and for all time. There is no longer a need or a use for any further sacrifices to be made for us or by us. It is finished; it is completed.

We note that the animal (and human) sacrifices made in all the pagan religions were for the purposes of getting some favor, benefit or request from the god or goddess. The purpose of Moses’ sacrifices (and Jesus’ sacrifice) is that God may forgive us as He desires to do. It is receiving something from God rather than giving something to God. This principle still holds for us today. For example, we go to church to receive some something from God, forgiveness and life; we do not go to church to do something good for God so that He might bless us better. In this way Sacrifice is a Promise, not a good work. The Sacrifice of Christ promises Forgiveness of Sins.

1. Forgive Sin

Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

This word continues the revelation of God to Moses. He reasserts His nature and character by telling us what it means for us: it means forgiveness. God’s precious promise is that He will forgive iniquity and transgression and sin, or any other term one uses for sin. Mercy is the forgiveness of sins. Because of Christ God has mercy on us and forgives all sins. Forgiveness is vital to life. Forgiveness is necessary for God’s life to live in us. Forgiveness is the entrance to heaven. Forgiveness is prerequisite to eternity with God. God promises to keep mercy and forgive sin. 

God forgives all sins for Christ’s sake, but it is even more important that God forgives me, the person. God forgives all past sins, and forgets them, but He also forgives all future sins. That does not give me license, but it does give me assurance. Forgiveness is mercy; it is not justice. Justice demands punishment for wrong, reward for right, blessing for good, curses for evil. Justice was done, accomplished, spent, and finished on Jesus Christ on the cross. Death is the just punishment for all sins, large or small. The death of the Son of God absorbs them all into Himself, so that the Lord God the Father can justly forgive us.

The coin has a flip side: God will by no means clear the guilty. All are sinners; all are guilty; all will die, and deservedly so. But those who have received the forgiveness of sins are no longer guilty. These are those who have heard the Gospel and believed in Jesus Christ. But those who refuse to believe the Gospel remain in their sin and they are guilty. They are not cleared. This will be eternal death, but in the present time before the End the evidence is that the sins of the parents tend to continue to influence the next several generations. Eventually, the influence will wear away, but meanwhile, certain sinful tendencies persist in families.

But we don’t despair, because this kind of generational bondage can be broken by the power of the gospel of forgiveness. The chain is broken when Christ comes in. Forgiveness promises great power to heal.

1. The Character of the Lord

Exodus 34:6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.

This characterization of the Lord God is repeated several times in the Old Testament so that we have no question regarding who God is and what He is like. The Hebrew word “Chesed” is translated “goodness.” Chesed means faithful love. God is love and He will keep His promises. This essential character of the Lord as revealed to Moses in a personal encounter is the foundation of all God promises. All the promises of God depend on who He is.

God is merciful and gracious, patient, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. God promises mercy and grace. God promises to be patient and longsuffering with us. God promises to show us faithful love and to act according to His word and promise. God couldn’t make it clearer; He couldn’t give greater assurance; He couldn’t reveal Himself better. We have all we could possibly have to trust God completely, unconditionally, and without reservation. We can take Him at His word and believe what He says because of who He is in nature and essence.

We see the baby in the manger, the works and ministry of Jesus’ life, the sacrifice of His death, and His glorious resurrection. We believe it, and we see it, we possess all of God, and we live on the great and abundant promises of God. The mercy, grace and goodness of the Lord are promised to Moses, Abraham, David, to the Church of believers, and to each of us personally. We don’t need to see the Lord as Moses did; we simply believe the event as if it happened to us. When we believe God’s Word we see the Lord, just like Moses. When we hear the Gospel we see the Lord in His glorious holiness and extravagant love. We have no excuse to say we don’t know God or what He is like. We do know; we do see; we do own the love. When God talks to Moses He is talking to us.

1. Grace and Mercy

Exodus 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Moses was graced with being allowed to be in the presence of the Holy God without experiencing death instantly. God said He would make His Goodness pass before Moses while he hid in the cleft of the rock. In the presence of God’s naked Glory every sinner would die immediately, but the Lord would be gracious to Moses to let him see the backside of His Glory as God passed by and was going away. That was enough of God’s glorious presence that he even had to wear a veil over his face or the reflected glory would be too great and blinding for the people.

What the Lord did for Moses in this encounter was to proclaim His Name before Moses. God had proclaimed His Name to Moses in the burning bush encounter: it was Yahweh, “I am who I am,” the eternally existent One. The “Name” is the presence of God in a human encounter. We pray, “Hallowed by Thy Name,” among us, in us, where we live, wherever we are. We are told to pray “in Jesus’ name,” the name by which we must be saved and through which we may approach God and have access to His Grace. This is God’s awesome condescension that He would lower His glorious self to our level so that we may meet Him heart to heart. This is what God did at Christmas and Easter, and every time we hear the gospel.

God promises to give us Grace and show His Mercy. First, of course, we need to recognize that we are sinners desperately in need of grace and mercy. Without mercy we are left in our own sin and misery and death. With mercy we are justified and made right with God; and we are granted access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. The picture of Moses’ meeting God shows us how gracious and merciful He is to us: He meets us in the written and spoken Word (the Gospel) and in the visible Word (the Sacraments). God has appeared to us also in the best possible way, a way that we can comprehend, to show us grace and mercy. He promises He will do so again and again, today and tomorrow.

1. Presence and Rest

Exodus 33:13, 14 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

Do we also need for the Lord to show us that we have found grace in His sight? Do we need to be shown the way that we may know the Lord? Do we need confirmation that I am one of God’s people? Surely we do, for doubt is naturally a part of the human condition. We, like the Jews, seek a sign; instead the Lord gives us His sure Word and precious promises. God answered Moses’ prayer for assurance: God’s Word was enough for him, and for us, even more than the numerous signs God had already given to show him and the people that He was indeed with them. The wonder is that we need only the Word. God does also give us signs, but we still need the Word to confirm the signs. The signs do not confirm the Word; they simply point to the Word.

We have God’s Word and promise that His presence will go with us and that He will give us rest. Presence and Rest are two promises that Jesus gives us. Jesus says, “I am with you always to the end of the age.” And He says, “Come unto me, and I will give you rest.” That is what we need: His Word. When we have even a little doubt, we only need to look to the Word of God for assurance and confirmation. If God says His Presence will go with us, it will. If God says He will give us rest, He will.

The Angel of the Presence goes with us: it is Jesus. The Sabbath Rest is given to us: it is Jesus. We are never alone and, believe it or not, we are never stressed out. We have Jesus with us and we have His restful spirit. His presence is in us; and we may call upon Him in the day of trouble. He is our rest; we may answer His call and come to Him at any time of need and He relieves the stresses and strains of life.

1. Blot Sin out of the Book

Exodus 32:33 And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Moses had been pleading with the Lord with intense interrogatory prayer. He was interceding for the people after they had sinned in the Golden Calf incident. Moses had asked the Lord to forgive them, and if He wouldn’t forgive, then blot his name out of the book He has written. This was a bold and courageous prayer request spoken with daring audacity. Moses was willing to sacrifice his own salvation if God would forgive the people their great sin.

The Lord’s response was to say that the one who has sinned against Me is the one whom I will blot out of My book. “In My book (The Book of Life) are only those who have no sins on their record. Only the sinless, holy ones can be accepted into my kingdom, my family, my presence, my home, my heaven, and my life.” The opposite side of this negative threat implies a positive promise: he who has no sins on his record I will not blot out of the Book. In the Final Judgment the books (that record every thought, word, and deed of a life) are opened for all to see and just judgment is rendered; but then the book of life is opened. The names of those who have had their sins erased are written there. And those whose names are not found written in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire, the second death[Revelation 20:12, 15]. The positive promise in Revelation 3:5 is for the one who conquers (believes in Jesus Christ): “I will never blot his name out of the book of life.”

The metaphor of the two “books” shows these truths: 1) if one’s name has been blotted out or is not in the book of life then he has to rely on the book of his own life, which includes a full record of all his sins, and the just judgment follows, or 2) if one’s name is in the Book of Life and has not been blotted out then it is revealed for all to see, and the just judgment follows and he is told to “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Either Sin is blotted out or Life is blotted out. Forgiveness is vital for life and it is eternal. We may never underestimate or diminish the power of Sin and the overpowering power of the Forgiveness of Sin. We do not take it for granted. More true power is unleashed through the forgiveness of sins then we can ever imagine.

1. The Lord Sanctifies You

Exodus 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.

The Lord promises to sanctify us. He fulfills the promise of making us holy through the death and resurrection of Christ and the in working of the Holy Spirit. We receive sanctification by the hearing of the Gospel mixed with faith.

The keeping of the Sabbath is a sign between God and me. It is a sign for us to know that it is the Lord who sanctifies. God will make us holy; God must make us holy so that He can be with us and we with Him. Each Sabbath was a sign of the coming of the Lord of the Sabbath, the Savior, who is the Eternal Rest for us. By faith we enter into that rest.

Since the New Testament fulfillment of the “sign,” there is no longer a need to keep the Sabbath. “Keeping the Sabbath Day” is actually a sign of unbelief, that we do not believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise. “Keeping the Sabbath” before Christ came was a sign that we believed in the Promise. But now that the Sabbath (Jesus) has come we look to Him, the real thing; we do not look at the sign or the shadow cast by the future Messiah. He is here; we see the Real Thing. Jesus is the sign that Sabbath points to; Jesus is the Person that casts the shadow. We no longer believe in the sign or the shadow, but we believe in the Word become flesh, the Savior God become human, the promise become fulfilled in our history.

Luther changed the Commandment to be in agreement with the NT Gospel. He made the command “Remember the Sabbath Day” to mean “Sanctify the Holy Day.” It is a good idea to set apart one day a week to go to a church that preaches the Gospel. By the hearing and receiving the gospel by faith we receive the Lord, who promises to sanctify us. 1 Corinthians 1:30: “God made Jesus our wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Jesus, with the Spirit, has made you holy (a finished declaration), is making you holy (a lifelong process), and will make you holy (in reality forever).

The bottom line: Go to church, hear the gospel, be sanctified.

1. Sanctify a Holy Place

Exodus 30:29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.

This promise is tricky. The promise is that whatever touches a sanctified vessel or object shall be holy. Moses was commanded to make a holy anointing oil, and with it he was to anoint all the tables, altars, lampstands, basins and all their utensils along with the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony. This action sanctifies them and makes them holy. They are holy because God says so and His Word makes them holy. Then the promise: whatever touches them shall be holy.

These objects are consecrated (sanctified, made holy). Then Aaron and his sons, as High Priests, are consecrated with the holy anointing oil and thus they are holy when performing prescribed services and sacrifices. The High Priest then may make the people holy as he brings them before the Lord.

Anyone who approaches the Lord in worship and truth, in prayer and praise, must he holy. Anything or anyone unholy, unclean, impure, or with a taint of sin will immediately die if one touches the Holiness of God. Holiness kills sin, and unfortunately, also the contaminated sinner. Throughout the Torah the Lord could not have emphasized the purity of His Holiness better than He did. God is holy! Anything touching holiness, without first becoming clean, forgiven and holy, will surely die in a holy presence. This happened with Nadab and Abihu and Uzzah, not to mention Ananias and Sapphira. You shall not mess with the holiness of God! Do not presume.

But the Lord says, “Come unto me, touch me, handle me, and live.” Jesus Himself touches unclean people with leprosy and disease, and unclean dead bodies, and instead of becoming defiled himself He cleanses, heals, gives life, and sanctifies the defiled and unclean person. This is the power of touching a holy thing: whatever touches them shall be holy. The power of holiness when it touches you is the power to make you holy, not to kill you. The holiness of Jesus makes alive, does not kill; it cleanses, does not defile; it makes holy, does not condemn. Jesus, the Holy Thing, touches us with the Holy Spirit through the Gospel and makes us Holy. Through the blood of Jesus we may, and we must, approach a Holy God. When Jesus touches us we shall be holy. You are sanctified through faith. Jesus is our sanctification. This holiness is in the cleansed heart, not in a tent or building.