Unknown Speaker (2:29)

Okay?

Pastor Al (2:29)

And so here's my goal. My goal is to help get us through Leviticus because I really do believe it's. It's an amazing book of the Bible, but it is so foreign. There's nothing about the book of Leviticus that is in common with the modern life, all right? Leviticus is symptomatic of ancient life, period. Okay? Everything about this book is the fabric of an ancient world, okay? And so many of us, we don't even get our meat from butchers anymore. Like, we get our meat from the grocery store. Like, we are so far removed from anything that is Levitical that, you know, the book of Leviticus is just insanely foreign. And so the more foreign something is, the harder it is to engage with it, to read it, to feel like it's relevant. So we are going to dive into the book of Leviticus, and I'm gonna help bridge the gap from this foreign content in this foreign world into the modern world that we live in. All right? Leviticus, chapters one to four. Let me just say this. If you haven't done the reading, go do the reading. If you've done the reading, let's dive in. Leviticus 1 through 4. In the first four chapters of Leviticus, we have four different offerings.

Unknown Speaker (3:55)

Okay?

Pastor Al (3:55)

I'll outline them for you. The first is a burnt offering.

Unknown Speaker (3:59)

Okay?

Pastor Al (3:59)

This is a whole animal, burned, consumed, and given to the Lord. Okay? Second, we have a grain offering. Third, we have a peace offering. And then fourth, we have an unintentional sin offering.

Unknown Speaker (4:13)

Okay?

Pastor Al (4:14)

Four offerings in these four chapters. That's just like, context. Okay, let me give you just a little bit more context. The blood of bulls and goats was never enough. I. I want to make sure that. That I say this and. And. And help people, because the blood of a bull or a goat isn't the thing that makes you forgiven by God. It's the faith in that process that makes you forgiven by God. Second. Or I guess that would be third. So, number one, there are four kinds of offerings listed here at. In the first four chapters of Leviticus. Number two, there's multiple offerings places in the prophets where God says, do you think I need the blood of bulls and goats? I actually think that For. For Yahweh, he institutes a sacrificial system, A, to foreshadow the sacrifice of his son, which is a sufficient atoning sacrifice. I don't think the blood of bulls and goats is a sufficient atoning sacrifice. If it were, we wouldn't need Jesus. Okay, so the question then becomes, why does God institute an insufficient sacrificial system? Well, a, to foreshadow the sufficient one, but also to assuage guilt. I think that God understands what humans need, not just what he needs. He doesn't need the blood of an animal in order to forgive us, but we certainly need the blood of an animal in order to believe that we're forgiven. Especially in a context where animal sacrifice is normal. Me and you may not need an animal sacrifice, but for an ancient person, an animal sacrifice communicated something. Lastly, big context, okay, big picture context. The goal was for Israel to be holy. So the book of Leviticus is all about holiness. And holiness is to be set apart. Holiness does not mean to be sinless. The opposite of holy isn't sinful. The opposite of holy is common. And so God is giving the people of Israel a way to be set apart.

Unknown Speaker (6:17)

Okay?

Pastor Al (6:18)

Not to be sinless, but to be set apart.

Unknown Speaker (6:20)

Okay?

Pastor Al (6:21)

That's like our big 30,000 foot context, okay? Big, big picture context. Okay, so let's kind of get into some nerdy nuggets here. We're gonna really talk about the whole burnt offering. I'm gonna give you three things about the whole burnt offering. Number one, you could offer a bull, a lamb or a bird, okay? Why does God give three different tiers of offerings? Because there are poor people, there are middle class folks and there are wealthy folks, okay? And not everyone can afford to. Not everybody even has a bull, okay? So God gives, hey, here are options. Gotta have some blood in it. I'll take birds, I'll take pigeons, I'll take lambs, I'll take bulls. When Jesus, okay, when Mary and Joseph come to the temple, when Jesus is, I think eight days old, in order to get circumcised, and they bring an offering, they bring pigeons. So that tells you the economic status of Mary and Joseph, okay? So the gifts that the wise men would have brought of gold, frankincense and myrrh would have been revolutionary for Jesus family. And they sacrificed pigeons, okay, which is a sign of, of their poverty. That's number number one that bulls, lambs and birds are based on an economic situation. Okay, I'm actually going to read this straight out of my notes because I think this is really, really helpful. Sacrificing whole animals, especially an ox, was a huge financial for the people at the time. It implied that the person would be out an animal that was used for work. Okay, so animals are used for work. Your oxen plowed your fields, meaning they were essentially out of a good and reliable piece of equipment. Think a tractor, a car, or even a laptop. They were also sacrificing a source of meat for their family. In Leviticus 1:13, they're instructed to wash the organs of the legs. Okay, this is where we're going to get into number two. Telling you three things about burnt offerings is number two. They're instructed to wash the organs and the legs. If that sounds weird, the answer is simple. They had to wash off the poop and the dirt. God doesn't want your sacrifice covered in crap. So be intentional about the sacrifice. This is massive that God gets into these details. Hey, don't just offer me something. Offer me something that's clean. The excellent, okay? We're gonna see this theme of detail, orientedness, and excellence all throughout the wilderness wanderings all throughout the first five books of the Bible. God's really particular about how he wants the curtains dyed in the tabernacle. It's like, hey, God, do you know that we're out here in the wilderness, like. And God's like, yep. And I still require excellence, okay? Because excellence says something about you. There are lots of times where I'll be at a smaller church, like, as opposed to, like, a large church. And, you know, I'll challenge like, hey, like, you can. You should be excellent. Or I'll say something challenging like, you think that you're not excellent because you're small, but I'm telling you, you're small because you're not excellent, okay? It's what comes first, the chicken or the egg. That actually, if you raise the standard of excellence, more people will be attracted. And I think people should be attracted to church because people are going to hell. So the alternative is attract them in a church so they can be saved or just be okay with. If we're okay with small churches, then that means we're okay with. With. With not evangelizing. And if we're not okay with evangelizing, that means we're okay with people spending eternity separated from God. I don't think people are okay with that. It's so selfish to me when people say things like, I just. I just only like small churches. I'm like, oh, got it. So you only like churches where people aren't getting saved every week. Okay, cool. Like, think about that. Just. Just. Just think about what you're saying. You're saying, I care about me and myself and my needs. I care about my family and my kids. I care about whether or not I feel comfortable. I don't care if I'm a part of an organization where everyone's related or everybody knows each other. I want to be a part of an organization where my needs are met and I have the attention of the pastor. That is only child syndrome. If I've ever heard it. And that's coming from an only child. Okay, let me get off that rabbit trail and back on topic.

Dr. Manny Arango (11:00)

Bible department family, it's Dr. Manny Arango.

Pastor Al (11:03)

And first thing I want to say.

Dr. Manny Arango (11:04)

Is that I'm proud of you for completing the New Testament. You did it. And now that we're in the Old Testament, I hope that looking at Genesis and Exodus from an ancient perspective and worldview has kind of like opened your eyes. Well, I got news for you. If you've enjoyed some of the interpretations that I've brought to the table from Genesis, then that's just the tip of the iceberg. This entire book, Crushing Chaos, was written from an ancient hermeneutic.

Pastor Al (11:35)

I'm looking at stories like the Flood.

Dr. Manny Arango (11:38)

Adam and Eve from the perspective of an ancient person. And we've got an event coming up on April 26th where I'll take a.

Pastor Al (11:46)

Lot of the content from this book.

Dr. Manny Arango (11:48)

And I'll turn that content into live lectures.

Pastor Al (11:51)

You don't want to miss it.

Dr. Manny Arango (11:53)

You can actually register for that event right now.

Pastor Al (11:56)

The link is in the description.

Dr. Manny Arango (11:58)

And more than content, I think what you'll find as we gather together in Nashville are like minded believers and friends.

Pastor Al (12:05)

And a community of people that you.

Dr. Manny Arango (12:07)

Don'T just watch content with online that you can get to know in person. I'd love to see you in Nashville. I'd love to hug you, high five you. And I'd love to nerd out together for one day as we come together in Nashville to learn about how to crush chaos.

Pastor Al (12:23)

I'll see you in Nashville. Peace. What's the third thing that we need to know about burnt offerings? Okay, the first thing we need to know is that bulls, lambs and birds are all options. And those options are based on the economic situations of the worshiper. So everyone can sacrifice something. If you're the poor, the poor, then you do birds. And actually, if you're even if you don't have enough for birds, then there's a grain offering. So you gotta clean your offering.

Unknown Speaker (12:57)

Okay.

Pastor Al (12:58)

And then third, laying hands on your offering is how you transfer guilt. Okay, so now we're killing something that is going to represent the sins that you've committed. Okay, so we transfer guilt by the laying on of hands. I want you to see how this idea of transfer changes in the New Testament because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross when we lay hands. Now at church, I'm not transferring guilt onto anyone, but I'm transferring blessing, anointing. When I pray for someone and I lay Hands on them. I'm believing that the sacrifice of Jesus has atoned for our sins, and I'm not transferring guilt to anybody. I was talking to an older guy, almost in his 80s. He's actually a pastor at a church that I worked at for a long time. His name is Pastor Al. And during COVID I mean, Pastor al is almost 80 years old. And Pastor Al, like, he was kind of wearing a mask, but not really, like, I don't know, like. And I asked him if he wanted to, like, go on a speaking trip with me. And we were going to Seattle, and we were going to Florida, and then we come back to North Carolina, and he was like, yeah. And he, like, wasn't really wearing a mask on the airplanes and stuff, and. And I was like, pastor Al, like, you're. You're getting up there in age, man. Like, you sure you. You don't. You don't want to. Like, you know, you may catch something, you may spread something. And he's like, the only thing I'm spreading is healing. And I just. I just love that. Like, I ain't contagious with sickness. I'm contagious with healing. Like, I'm. I'm contagious. That. What we see from the Old Testament to the New Testament is that in the Old Testament, I could spread leprosy or I could spread disease. You could see that mindset coming into the New Testament. But for Jesus, he believes he's not. No one's getting him sick with leprosy. He's getting them sick with the healing power of God. The thing that's contagious has changed. We don't have to protect the holiness, as if the sin is gonna eat up all the holiness. No, it's the holiness that is now a force. The holiness is out here healing and setting people free. This is only because of the cross of Christ that we have a difference. And what gets transferred when we lay hands on people. When we lay hands. I'm not. I'm not spreading my guilt. I'm actually spreading the grace and the glory, the goodness of God. That is what. What. That's what's being transferred. Someone comes to an altar, and we lay hands on them, we're saying, God, transfer grace and goodness and mercy and glory to this person in Jesus name. So these are three things about burnt offerings. I'm gonna give you one more nerdy nugget about peace offerings, okay? Uh, one of the things that sets apart a peace offering is that the worshiper actually has to kill it.

Unknown Speaker (15:50)

Okay?

Pastor Al (15:50)

So in the other offerings, it's the. The Levitical priest that kills the offering. But in the peace offering, the worshiper actually kills it themselves. One last nerdy nugget before we get into our timeless truth is that the book of Leviticus would have functioned like an owner's manual in your car for the Levitical priesthood, okay? So the book of Leviticus is for the Levites, okay? The Levites are the. Are the one tribe that isn't given an allotment of land, but the other tribes have to take care of the tribe of Levi because the tribe of Levi is where you're going to get your priests from, okay? It's the priestly tribe. All the kings are going to come from the tribe of Judah. All priests come from the line of. From the tribe of Levi. The book of Leviticus is really for Levites, okay? Hence, okay, the Levitical priesthood. So Leviticus, Levitical. So this book wouldn't have been like devotional reading. Sometimes the reason that people are like, oh my goodness, like, I just can't get through Leviticus is because you're. You're trying to read it devotionally instead of just reading it to study. Like, hey, I just kind of want to understand what, what's going on here. Okay, Let me give you a timeless truth. One of the things that I love is that there's an offering for unintentional sin. Because sometimes there's intentional sin, but sometimes there's unintentional sin. I didn't intend on sinning, okay? It wasn't my plan, but, man, I've sinned. It happened. What do I do? How do I deal with this? There are four groups of people that the unintentional sin offering gives some instructions to. The first group are priests. Second is the heads of household. The third are whole. The whole congregation. And the fourth is common people.

Unknown Speaker (17:42)

Okay?

Pastor Al (17:43)

So God teases this out. Now, what you need to know is that in every culture surrounding the people of Israel, the higher up on that leadership food chain you are, the more lenient the consequences and the more privilege you have in society. However, in Leviticus, the harshest treatment is not reserved for the poor, the common folks. The harshest treatment is actually reserved for the priests. Now, this would have been shocking, okay? But this is a timeless truth, because James 3:1 actually tells us if. Actually, I'll read James 3:1 because I think it's good, says, not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that he who teaches will be judged more strictly. So if you teach, you're going to be judged. And this is the same. God is setting this up all the way back in Leviticus. I don't lead because I want the privileges that are associated with leading. No, I lead because I'm okay with being judged more harshly with serving. I'm okay with. With the responsibility and the weight of leadership that. Does leadership have some perks? It does. But leadership, far more than perks, has a price. And I'm willing to pay the price of being a leader. Okay, this is the first four chapters of Leviticus. We got burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, unintentional sin offerings. And what you're going to notice is a lot of these offerings are actually going to be meals that you're going to have with the priest because nothing communicates that you're at peace with your brother or at peace with God like sharing some food together.

Unknown Speaker (19:31)

Okay?

Pastor Al (19:32)

I don't know if you've ever been upset with anybody or angry, and it's almost like you couldn't even eat. You're so mad you couldn't eat. And God says, yeah, there's no anger. The eating or the feasting or the meal is actually representative of the fact that there's peace, okay? Peace between us. Last little nugget is that the fat belongs to the Lord. And I'm actually going to read exactly what I've got here. It says the fat belongs to God. Essentially, you can sub out the word fat and put in the word best, okay? That the fat is the best. That when the land is good, your animals are eating well and it produces a lot of fat, okay? Which means the meat is going to taste great. And so you're giving God the best of the land, okay? When you give him the fat of the animals, you're giving him the best of the land. You're giving him that which has high value. He doesn't get leftovers. He doesn't give stuff. He doesn't get stuff that I don't want. Like God's not. The hand me downs. The hand me downs don't belong to him. He deserves the fat of the animal, which is the beginning best of the land. And that's also a timeless truth that God, you. You deserve my first fruits. You deserve my. You deserve. I need to do my devotions when I'm sharpest during the day because that's a sacrifice of praise God. You know what? I'll give you the best of me. I'll give you the best of my time and my energy. That. That same heart that God I Want to put the fat portions on the altar, that what I'm placing on the altar is the best that I have to give.

Unknown Speaker (21:12)

Okay.

Pastor Al (21:13)

It doesn't have to be the highest value. God doesn't require me to put a bull on the altar if I can't afford it. But whatever I can afford, he wants the best. Okay, all right. Probably ruffle a lot of feathers by telling people that small churches are a problem, but small churches that are growing are not a problem. Small churches that are intentionally staying small by splitting or like that's not a problem. But churches that don't evangelize and don't care about the lost, that's a problem. And there are big churches who don't evangelize and don't care about the lost. So it's not a size issue. It's really about are you. If inevitably if a church is evangelizing, it's going to grow, okay. And now it can stay small by intentionally splitting after it grows. Like your cells split and multiply. So, so there's ways for a church to do both to be evangelistic and stay small. When I hear people say I want a small church, what I'm, what I'm, what I'm discerning. But behind those words are I want to be able to call the pastor whenever I want. I want one on one time. It just, it just kind of reeks of like only child syndrome. It's like, yeah, well what about your siblings? You know, the reason that someone would rather be an only child as opposed to having 13 siblings is because they're not going to get as much of their parents attention. And I feel like there's a little bit of that. When people say I don't like big churches, I don't have a preference for big churches or small churches. I just want to be a part of a church that's winning lost people because people are at risk of being separated from God eternally. And I want to be a part of churches that are, that are providing a solution to that problem. And if there are small churches that are doing that, I'm cool with being a part of those. If there are big churches that are doing that, I'll find being a part of those. I don't feel like I have some right to be in a one on one relationship with a pastor. Like I don't think the Bible says that I have that as a right. Anyway. Okay, we're overtime. I just had to like, I just felt like adding some nuance to my comments earlier would be helpful. All right, tomorrow we got Leviticus, chapters 5, 6, and 7. We got three chapters of Leviticus for tomorrow. I'll see you right here as we keep tracking through the Bible and tracking through Leviticus. I love you guys. I'm proud of you. Peace.

Dr. Manny Arango (23:44)

Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn.

Pastor Al (23:49)

More about the show at the Bible.

Dr. Manny Arango (23:51)

Department and on Instagram Hebible Department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.